If you’ve started waking up early and working in those early hours of the day as we recommend at ProductiveMuslim.com, you’ll find that it’s pretty hard to be consistent each and every day with this routine. And when you search for the reasons for this inconsistency, you’ll realise that it’s mainly because it’s hard to regulate your sleep; one day you sleep well, so you wake up early and can work hard. Other days, you don’t sleep so well and those early hours are pretty difficult to maintain.
Sleep, as any other activity we do as humans, can be optimized by planning well in advance and following a particular routine each night. You might think: “Dude, I just crash and sleep”. Well, that’s one way of doing it, but here’s another routine. Try it out and tell me if sleep doesn’t become a rewarding, spiritual and fulfilling experience for you after this.
The following sleep routine requires you to prepare for it at least 90 minutes BEFORE you actually sleep. And it’s basically dividing those 90 minutes into 3 parts:
- One third for Your Lord
- One third for Your Self
- One third for Your Sleep
1. One third for Your Lord:
This starts with you making wudhu, brushing your teeth, putting on nice clothes and perfume and praying Tahajjud and Witr for Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) (Note: If you prefer to wake up before Fajr to pray these night prayers then definitely go with that. However, if you can’t trust yourself to wake up that early, it’s better that you pray Tahajjud and Witr Salah BEFORE you sleep). This is my favourite part of the sleep routine and favourite part of the day!
It’s such a calming experience after going through a long hard day, to stand in front of your Lord, recite His verses, supplicate to Him and ask Him of whatever you desire in this world and the Next. Do this for a couple of nights and you wouldn’t want to give up doing it! In fact, throughout your day, you’ll be anticipating this moment and looking forward to it!
2. One third for Your Self:
This is where you prepare yourself for sleep by putting on your pyjamas, getting into bed and reading a good book for at least 30 minutes. If you’re like me, ideas and thoughts will keep popping into your head as you read, and you will want to save them for later. For these, I have a plain notebook and pen/pencil next to me to scribble anything (and I mean anything) that pops in my head! You’ll be surprised how many great ideas originate from these 30 minutes.
Alternatively, instead of reading, you may spend these 30 minutes brainstorming on a plain notebook any ideas,plans, and projects you have in mind. You don’t have to come up with the ‘perfect’ idea/solution, but simply brainstorm as much as you can then literally “sleep on it” (as the saying goes). In the morning, you’ll be surprised at what your sub-conscious mind brings forth for you.
3. One third for Your Sleep:
I’ve said that this is a third for your sleep, but truly this is a third for your Lord to bless your sleep, and basically this involves going through the duas and verses that one should recite before sleeping as per the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These include reciting Surah Al-Mulk and Surah Al-Sajdah and other supplications recommended before sleeping. For me, this last part of the routine is like the cherry on top of the cake! Nothing fills you with more tranquility than to sleep having uttered the words of Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala).
So there you have it, the ProductiveMuslim routine for Sleep. You may think it’s lengthy, but there has been no day that I’ve followed it, except that I’ve slept peacefully and woken up peacefully.
Hope it works well for you and that you have a productive sleep – Sweet dreams!
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Thank you for this. I’ll give it a shot, inshAllah.
alhamdullillah! thank u so much! lately i’ve been troubled by my sleep cycle! 1 think most of us know about that 3 part of night but ur explanation & suggestions…i never thought that way before…insya allah, i’ll do it tonight! thank u again!
JazakhAllaah khayran — been needing this subhanAllaah!
Salam an interesting concept although i have recently been trying out a new method of waking up early and all though its very early days it seems to be working well
Being muslims we should add to this by obviously making ibadah before we sleep as you suggested and i can take a lot from you article since often when its after isha salaat im at a loss as to what to do i wish to do some sort of small routine but its usually not very organised so often i can end up wasting my time; but your suggestion of deviding the nights into 3 is intrigiging although
I would change things about a little by not undertaking any reading in bed or doing any notes or brain storming i use to do this before and this is often what lead me to sleeping late at night- the bed only serves one real purpose sleep so we should view it as a recharging station.
I would also due a little 15 minute exercise session.
thanks….thanks a lot
INSHAALLAH I will try
never imagine this way…
@Muhammad Ali – JazakAllah Khair for your comments.
Reason I brainstorm before sleeping is to get whatever I have on my mind ‘off’ my mind and onto paper, and also to get my unconscious mind working on some of the brainstormed ideas whilst I’m sleeping..
regarding exercise before sleep, not sure, i’ve heard that you shouldn’t exercise before sleep as that’ll get you super energetic and unable to sleep, instead one should perform ‘meditative’ exercises, and isn’t that what Salah is?
Anas- very true in fact its better to do exercise in the morning
Now inshallah when are u going to write the antithesis of this article and give us advice on a sound morning routine that gets our day off to the best start .
Currently im trying to wake up for fajr by myself using the technique i linked on my last comment and i try to hifd 10 ayas a day although often i start late or delay it and after completing the activity i sometimes waste my time not waste it in a sence but i just end up watching quran videos on you tube or surfing the net any advice Akhi and other helpful tips you could offer.
JazakAllah Khair for any advice your able to offer
@Muhammad Ali – Already did, check out this article: http://www.productivemuslim.com/whats-your-morning-routine/
Really nice blog.
Regards,
Hamza
finally! something i have been really looking for! Thank you so much!
this was great, i’ll follow this during ramadan insha’Allah as i have a very bad sleeping routine and often end up wasting time and going to be too late. however, i was wondering when are you going to launch your site? before ramadan or IN ramadan?
jazakAllah khair
you mentioned praying tahjjud and witr before going to sleep, i thought tahjjud is to be reserved for last third of the night… what if you sleep at 10.30??
Jk
I think there is a link missing…
"These include reciting Surat Al-Mulk and Surat Al-Sajdah and other supplications found here."
found here. where?
Otherwise Its wonderful. InshaAllah I am going to try this.
Br. Azizur Rahman,
Here's the link:
http://www.makedua.com/display_dua.php?sectionid=28
Jazak Allah Khair for pointing out!
-ProductiveMuslim Team
Thanks a lot for this beautiful article.
Bless you.
I have two questions, if you don't mind.
First, what's exactly Tahajjur prayer?! Is it tarawih or just night prayer?!
Second, this really worries me. You know, it's recommended we sleep 7 or 8 complete hours for a healthy body and mind, but morning prayer splits it into two ! I mean, I'll have to sleep forl ike 4 hours, then wake up for morning prayer, and then sleep again!
Sometimes this causes me headache or I feel like I haven't been sleeping well.
During school time I sleep at 12.00am, I cannot sleep earlier and to be quite honest, I don't want to!
So, do you have any suggestions for that?!
I do really need help.
Best regards.
Assalamu'alaikum KM,
Thanks for your message.
Regarding your first question: loosely defined, tahajjud and 'qiyam-al-layl' can be considered one. Any voluntary prayer after Maghreb all the way till Fajr is counted as part of your 'night prayer' or 'tahajjud'. (Some scholars define tahajjud as the night prayer in the last third of the night).
Regarding your second question about sleep: Firstly, there's 2 things we need to differentiate here: 1. What your body wants, and 2. What your soul wants.
Your body wants to relax, have 8 hours sleep, eat well and enjoy itself. Your soul wants to pray, fast and stay closer to Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala). As you can imagine, it's very hard to satisfy both, so you have to think and decide who you should aim to please. (Answer: the soul! As that will enter you in Jannah!).
I'm not saying that you should spend all night in prayer! As your body has a right over you and you should take care of it.
Let's get practical: You should aim to have enough sleep at night so your body is not completely tired during the day. So it's VERY important that you sleep early (immediately after isha prayers). If you sleep late and expect to wake up early and fresh, it's going to be very difficult for you.
Finally, your body is very adaptable. I know many people who have a healthy life sleeping an average of 4 hours and 30 minutes sleep. However, if you're concerned about your health and sleep pattern, I would suggest you visit a doctor, as medical conditions are important to take note of.
Hope you find this useful,
ProductiveMuslim
Thank u so much.. May Allah bless u for spreading the light..
i’ll bring it into my routine for my sleeping and Inshaallah my Lord bless me able to do it very well and everyday …
From South of Thailand Anak Melayu
And Jazaka Allahu Khairan for this article, it’s so helpful! And I’m now going ro read the morning routine article :)
Salam.
jazakallah x
SubhanaAllah, so touching and informative sharing to me..
I want to share with my friends..
Shukran jazilan…
I just wanted to say how absolutely amazing this routine is. I am so glad Allah opened the doors for me to get to this article because ever since i have employed this routine, I have not missed Fajr. Instead of a better way to sleep, I feel like it is more so an infallible way to wake up for Fajr. I rarely woke up for Fajr before, Astagfarullah, May Allah have mercy on me, but ever since I have started using this routine, I haven’t missed Fajr since, Alhamdullilah!
Instead of Step 2, I watch a good Islamic lecture or read some Hadiths.
Thank you so much for this, May Allah bless all the ProductiveMuslim team and their families with Jannah! :)
I believed you can also
recite the Last 10 verses of Surah Ali Imran.
It helps, InshaAllah (:
Jazakallah khayr
this response here answers your question: http://www.islamqa.com/en/ref/143240/tahajjud
Jazaka Allah .
all your writings give me inspirational day !!
And Allah swt knows best.
عَنْ أَبِى هُرَيْرَةَ رضي الله عنه عَنِ النَّبِىِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ :( إِنَّ الدِّينَ يُسْرٌ ، وَلَنْ يُشَادَّ الدِّينَ أَحَدٌ إِلاَّ غَلَبَهُ ، فَسَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا ، وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالْغَدْوَةِ وَالرَّوْحَةِ وَشَىْءٍ مِنَ الدُّلْجَةِ ) رواه البخاري (39) ومسلم (2816)
I think the bro above needs to calm down n stop lashing out…it’s good to do as much as you do, but for some of us it’s not possible.
Here’s some advice:
1. sleep right after Isha; this might need you to rearrange your schedule a bit.
2. Try to take a nap during the day, even for just 20 minutes.
3. Learn about sleep cycles and how to manage your sleep cycle. We offer training on that, but it’s not available now.
Hope this helps, insha Allah
We did this post last Ramadan but think you’ll find it very helpful, iA http://productiveramadan.com/master-your-sleep-this-ramadan-series
assalamu alaikum.
I’m vary happy to read this article and comments.
Thank you.
I have always been an early sleeper and an early morning bird! It helps to get chores done early in the morning so you have the rest of the day for your family and self.
However, things drastically changed when I got married, since a pretty late-sleeping routine was followed at my in-laws. For the first time I started sleeping late and realised that my productivity at work and personal life was really poor! Gradually, as the new-life adjustment phase passed by, I got my routine back in place (not to perfection, but its improving!) and once again I see how I can manage to complete household chores on time, stay fresh, feel healthier and emotionally more stable.
Things are once again taking their toll as I am pregnant now. And aren’t able to sleep well at night with all the changes. But perhaps this is just the sacrifice that mothers go through to get the high status that Islam has in store for them!
Perhaps you can have some articles covering the challenges for ladies like myself, going through such changes in life – of marriage and kids.
Confession – I owe my sleeping routine to my mother. Who always ensured discipline in this regard from a very young age; without any exceptions! We never understood the reasons for not letting us have a quick nap after maghrib or making us go straight to bed after isha. But today, I am so thankful for her strictness! A message to all parents – what you set up today as their routine, will go a very long way!