Blog - The One Obvious Tip that's Boosted my Productivity During COVID-19 Ramadan

Attention Mompreneurs…

Does this scenario seem familiar?

You’re finally settling down at your desk to get some work done. YAY!

You’ve:

✅ Fed the kids.

✅ Spent the morning and early afternoon schooling the kids.

✅ Done some fun activities with them that you’ve picked off of Pinterest.

✅ Tidied up and got the house chores out of the way. 

You’re now ready to power through a work sesh 👩🏾‍💻 that will leave many tasks completed ✅. You’re feeling a spark⚡️that will lead to epiphanies and creations.

All is calm as you settle down at your desk with a hot, caffeinated beverage ☕️ (or not, if you’re fasting in Ramadan 🌙).

Ahhhhhhhhh…… 

You check your inbox 📨, and find an email from a client who you’ve been working on signing on for weeks! Excited, you hit “reply” and prepare to blow them away with a response - wait… what?

How is your mini-me ALREADY hungry?

*you fetch a snack for kid.

👩🏿‍💻Ahhhhhh…. Back to impressing your potential cheese string 🧀- I mean CLIENT. CLIENT!

You start by continuing to build that rapport in your response, ease their concerns and show why you’re the best person for the job. You’re just about to get to the juicy bit that will win them over and -  a bathroom break 🚽 ? Seriously, kid?

Ughhh… fine! You don’t want any “accidents” now, do you?

*you help your preschooler in the washroom.

👩🏻‍💻Ahh… Work time!

Now…. Where were you? Ah! Yes. The client. Which client? Hmmmm...🧐 

Ok! You remember! Back to impressing and selling your services. 

You get through a couple of paragraphs, explain again how the packages work. And yes, you’ve got a payment plan! You’re just about to dive into the details and ask for the sale when...

...you hear screaming siblings upstairs disputing over who’s turn it is to play with the newer-looking LOL Doll. 🤦🏻‍♀️ 

At this point, you’ve sort of given up on any hopes of getting work done. You’ve just decided to work on this when the kids go to bed 🛌 (hopefully without a struggle).

When bedtime is finally done with, you’re running on minimal energy to work through the projects that you had such energy to tackle earlier on in the day, and you feel like your day has gone to waste. 

This is exactly what was happening with me on repeat. Day in and day out.

I was already homeschooling prior to COVID-19 hitting a global pandemic status. It still didn’t prepare me for the sheer fatigue and lack of productivity that I would feel with being stuck at home 24/7 with the kids; who also need extra attention and cuddles in a time when things are so uncertain. 

Something changed for me last week when Ramadan started though.

I started waking up super early, so around 3:50 AM here in Toronto, to have my Suhoor (pre-dawn meal before the fast begins). Instead of going right back to bed right after eating, which is what I normally do, I tried something different.

I stayed awake and used the absolutely blissful morning peace to power through about 3 hours of UNINTERRUPTED work before the kids woke up! 

What’s more?

I found that the energy boost that I got from checking off tasks early in the morning built the momentum for me to continue the day with more motivation! I was able to keep the kids on track with school work during the morning hours, which I normally dreaded. I also often got distracted because I would sometimes try to get work tasks done while simultaneously educating the kids. Result: I was multitasking with no task being done to its full potential! 

Because I had already gotten my important tasks done in the morning, I was a lot more relaxed and present with the children. After I finished with schooling them and giving them lunch, I went down for a nice, long nap. At this point my husband had his time to sleep in (no work during COVID for him, and he’s more of a night owl) and was powered up to take over and engage the kids.

I woke up from my nap feeling like a recharged SUPERHERO, but quite hungry. I took the rest of the day relatively easy, spent some quality time with the kids, squeezed in a bit of client work and then we had Iftar (dinner to break the fast at sunset) together as a family. Bed time was right after, and I went to sleep early after spending a bit of time with my husband. This way I could still get ample sleep before my day began next morning at 3:50 AM.

I have now continued this for most days since Ramadan started. The one day that I slept late at night, I had to sleep after my pre-dawn meal. I feel like it threw me off balance and I wasn’t as productive or full of energy. My goal now is to make this my ongoing routine so that I can get my most important tasks done early in the morning. 

I can see this routine working after social distancing is done and my husband has to go back to work too, as I can just let the children have some screen time while I squeeze in a nap nearby.

I know we’ve all heard it a million times before:
“Early to bed, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy and wise”.

After seeing it in action now, I’m excited to continue this routine after Ramadan is done as well. Except, maybe I won’t wake up quite as early. I think about 5 AM will do!

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