WHAT IS PRODUCTIVITY?
Productivity is about making smart choices (continuously) with your energy,focus and time in order to maximise your potential and achieve beneficial results.

In order to be productive, you need three elements: focus,energy and time.
➡ if you have focus and time but lack energy, you'll constantly be too tired or lethargic to tackle your tasks.
➡if you have lots of energy and time,but lack focus,you'll constantly be distracted, jumping from one thing to the other,unable to complete your task at hand.
➡If you have both energy and focus-but lack time,then you simply can't be productive.

Thus productivity is the function of the three.
Energy+Focus+Time.

WHAT PRODUCTIVITY IS NOT:
➡its not about being busy: you can be busy all day but not productive. How? By simply wasting your energy,focus and time on mindless pursuits e.g meetings,phone calls and emails that to not add value to your life or advance your goals.
➡Its not an event: Productivity is a process,it takes time. It's about making smart choices daily until beneficial habits are ingrained and being productive becomes a lifestyle.
➡Productivity is not boring: people think that being productive means no more TV,social media etc. Being productive is about knowing when to have fun or work hard. When to relax and when to be serious. Its about making smart choices.

You can't always be productive:Although there are ways to maintain a certain level of productivity throughout your life,don't ever think you're a machine that can consistently work at a high speed,high productivity level. Even a machine breaks down if it's constantly moving at high speed.

PURPOSE DRIVEN PRODUCTIVITY
Productivity in Islam purposeful,not pointless. There's a constant intrinsic drive to lead a purposeful life.
That's divinely inspired,built into our natural disposition (fitrah). This is clearly articulated in the Qur'an leaving no room for doubt. Understand this purpose and internalizing it as a part of our daily activities is truly transformative for any human being.

VALUE DRIVEN PRODUCTIVITY
The pursuit of productivity without a clear set of guidelines or ethical values can destroy the human being either literally through physical illness and fatigue or mentally and emotionally through depression, stress and anxiety.
➡Islam comes with values and guidelines that are not imposed by external force,but self applied out of a person's own will and submission to the command of Allah and the guidance of prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam).
Living and applying these values have huge benefit not just to the individual, but to the society at large. Values eg trust,honesty,excellence,help us to be truthful in our lives and uphold the highest standards of morality.Other values include: Adl(Justice),gentleness,and Rahma(mercy). All these values help us to maintain human dignty. This is where Islam encourages its followers to have an internal moral compass that guides their every action.
➡The key point here is that the more we fulfill the values instilled by Islam in our lives,the more we'll bring the best out of people,boost their productivity and most importantly maintain their human dignity. The more we ignore these values,the more we'll be hurting ourselves,society and economies at large,and no amount of productivity would be beneficial to help us move us forward.

SOUL GUIDED PRODUCTIVITY
➡the soul is what makes us human. Without it,we have no value. The soul is often overlooked because we live in a postmodern society that basically says: if you can't touch it,feel it,smell it,see it,hear it,then it does not exist.
Allah says in the Qur'an:"The prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam), they ask you about the spirit. Say,the spirit is part of my Lord's domain. You have only been given a little knowledge." (17:85).
Even though Allah has not revealed much about the soul,He did reveal ways to develop and nourish it.

As the final message to humanity,Islam is the only religion that offers a practical,balanced system between feeding the soul and body. From the five daily prayers,to the annual fasting month of Ramadan, Islam has the blueprint to nourish our souls while still encouraging us to be engaged in today's modern life.
➡It is important to "Begin with the end in mind" in order to focus more on the important and beneficial things in life. Unfortunately we've completely forgotten this narrative. We live in this world as if we will live forever,any mentioning of the Hereafter makes us sound like wierdos or people who are not living to the fullest
➡Moreover,prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) taught us that a person would be asked about 5 things on the day of Judgment: "His knowledge and how he used it,his youth and how he spent it,his life and how he lived it and his wealth,the source and how he spent it."

If you think about these 5 questions, they are all linked to productivity. Were you productive with your knowledge and used it well? Were you productive with your youth living a life of service or did you waste it on video games,drugs and partying or watching TV?  Were you productive with your money,earning it from ethical sources and spending it in the right way?
➡This focus on the hereafter drives us towards a balance of our different roles. Its not only about being a productive employee,or manager,its about being a productive parent,son/daughter,husband/wife,neighbor,citizen and Muslim!

From➡The productive Muslim
By➡ Muhammad Faris.