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Productivity In Practice



TRUE STORY

A woman called into the hospital last night. She explained that her 12 year old son had a concussion. She had been waking him up every hour for the past two days and was exhausted. I asked her to continue her story. She explained that she had a requisition for a CT scan but she had to wait for tomorrow for the appointment. Should she just bring him to the emergency room tonight? Then...she started to cry.

Clearly, she was not asking for factual information, she needed emotional support. Like most situations when we are asked for help, we step lively and are careful with our advice. I decided to manage her feelings by encouraging her to listen to her mother's intuition. Whether or not she stayed the night in the emergency room is unknown to me and I will probably never know the outcome of the events with her son, a sort of open system if you will.

HAVE YOU HAD TOO MUCH TO THINK TODAY?

Scary thoughts run through a mother's head when their child is sick or injured. What can I do to ease my child's pain? What if everything I do fails? Who can help me fix my child's pain? What if I unintentionally hurt my child? What if my child dies?

I'm reminded of a beautiful quote from Hafiz: “Fear is the cheapest room in the house. I'd like to see you living in better conditions”

Most of us can relate to the voice in our head that scares us and prevents us and limits our intentions. Catastrophizing or “over-thinking” can be raised to a new art form if we let it. Intuitively we realize it's counterproductive. How do we let go of the “what ifs” and the “but this, how about that?” swimming around in our heads? What if we used our headspace for two things? – (a) solve problems and (b) gain knowledge. My son had a song playing on loop recently. “Just do it” by Shia Labeouf.. The lyrics run like this:

Some people dream of success Dont let your dreams become dreams You better wake up and work harder Nothing is impossible Yesterday you said Tomorrow Make your dreams come true Yes you can Just do it
The video is pretty funny actually I think it's meant to be a spoof, but since it was playing all afternoon it got me thinking. When we have a problem to solve, we need to gain knowledge about it but we can't stop there, we need Mr. Labeouf's (or Nike's) “just do it” in the mix also. Where to begin? 
 
BEGIN AT HOME

Life can be as simple or as complicated as we make it. When I think about back to basics and “real” things I always think of nature. Does the animal kingdom hold some answers for us? Some species of bees and ants belong to the eusocial orders Hymenoptera which is a rare trait in the animal kingdom. They have the capacity to learn and execute complex decisions not only as individuals but also as integrated social groups much like human society. We view bees as productive creatures but what do bees do every day? What can we learn from bees about living and productivity?
Each bee comes back to its hive without swerving to the right or left, it comes straight back to its home where its offspring and honey are. It makes wax from its wings, and regurgitates honey from its mouth, and lays eggs from its rear, then the next morning it goes out to the fields again.”
Bees behaviour is concentrated on productivity and routine. Their day is set with useful and valid goals. Repeating this process is creative and nurturing. Similarly, we go to work and earn a living, use our manners and good speech, and have relations with our spouses creating family. So we find one key that opens a door, but there are several locked doors in front of this.
MAKE QUALITY CHOICES
 
Contemplating something as everyday as a cow is awesome. Think about the complexity of creating something pure and consumable like milk between the inedible impurities of excrement and blood. The grapevine produces grapes and with some human effort grapes produce wine. Everyone can eat grapes but wine can be a dangerous intoxicant. For centuries honey has been known for it's healing properties. Recently science has proven that honey has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory abilities although it can be dangerous to give honey to a child under 1 year old. There is a lesson to eat healthy things. Choosing whole foods leads to good nutrition which lets our bodies stay healthy. Nature is amazing because the choices are instinctive. Our lives aren't as simple because of our cognitive abilities. Humans have the ability to tap into our instincts and make positive choices. What keys open the door to positive choices and close the door on procrastination and over-thinking?
Firstly, it's important not to create problems by making bad choices. When you are presented with milk or blood, choose milk. When you are offered grapes or wine, choose grapes. Being aware of what and why we choose certain things is half the battle. Use the mechanism of problem solving as you see a choice coming up on the horizon. Ask trusted friends about a complicated decision you have to make and really listen to what they have to say. Problems occur when we don't have time to stop and think. It's also important not to think too much. Once a sound decision comes into focus, it's best to act on it. After experimenting for a while and with some trial and error, we can certainly avoid stepping in excrement.
Our words can get us into trouble and can get us out of trouble. Phrases like “sweet talker” or “he talks a lot of s**t” are essentially true. Our words can be like honey having antibacterial/anti-inflammatory effects. What comes out of your mouth depends on what is in your head and the problem solving process that has been established. 
 
JUST DO IT

Here is an experiment for you. Try remembering what your mom often told you when you were a child. “If you don't have anything good to say, don't say it at all”. There is an awful lot of wisdom in that simple practice. It teaches us to have sweetness in our speech. When you feel like complaining or engaging in gossip, check yourself. Keep a little private sticky note on your desk with mom's pearl of wisdom. Add it to your calendar notifications. Look at it throughout the day. Think of it as an exercise in problem solving. If there is a chance to show someone the other side of the coin, why not try and do it? Good thoughts and good words attract good things and good people. So now that we have the theory, what are the practical applications? How do we create a positive closed feedback system?
INPUT= life simplification, problem solving [SYSTEM=our thought processes] OUTPUT = good manners, sweetness of speech, smiling and happiness. [FEEDBACK= productivity]
You might be thinking all this lies outside of the financial realm. What about career plans? Where is the wax from our wings going to factor into this system? North American economics concentrates on industry for the sake of the bottom line. Some of us agree with the idea that “Money doesn’t buy happiness”. Many people fall somewhere in the middle but don't have a clue where to find the answer. The daily grind for most people is mechanical and unfulfilling. We live without purpose. Turns out there has been a lot said on the translation of effort into productivity in an Islamic sense and it offers a unique key to the anxiety of the corporate world. One of the fundamental factors is the disconnect between work and spirituality. Many people agree that society needs correcting, that our focus is not on the most important things in life, but what is the correction? How do we get back to basics? Surprisingly enough, this closed system creates barakah.
In Islam, Barakah or Baraka (Arabic: بركة‎‎) is a kind of continuity of spiritual presence and revelation that begins with God and flows through that and those closest to God. Baraka can be found within physical objects, places, and people, as chosen by God.
Consider some of the great civilizations of history. What made them successful? What pattern of life did they follow to achieve such success? The Islamic Golden Age ran from the 8th to the 13th Century. http://islamichistory.org/islamic-golden-age/ Included in the achievements were the establishment of “The House of Wisdom” where Muslim and non-Muslim gathered to translate the world's knowledge. This era was particularly unique because it created the first truly universal society. So what did they know about or do that we are missing out on now?Mohammed Faris explains:The early Islamic scholars did not engage with their projects or tasks in a mechanical way with no spirit or faith attached to it. Instead, they saw a clear connection between their spirituality and the quality or output and impact their work had”.

Story 1

Imam Bukhari (whose books cannot be challenged when it comes to their authenticity due to his rigorous authentication method) had a unique habit of performing ghusl (ritual cleansing) and praying istikhara asking Allah for guidance before placing a hadith in his collection. He even went a step further and finalized each hadith in the Prophet’s mosque itself, sitting next to the Prophet’s grave in the area known as Al-Rawdah to seek the barakah as he performed his work. [Chain of Command – Science of Hadith, P. No.: 85]

Story 2

Fatimah Al Fihri was the founder of the oldest existing educational institution in the world, the University of Qarawiyyin. She had great aspirations and diligently spent all that was required of time and money to see her project to completion. She also decided to do something unique during the duration of building her university. She decided to fast every day from the first day of construction in Ramadan until the project was completed some two years later whereupon she offered salat al shukr, the prayer of gratitude in the very mosque she had so tirelessly worked to build. [Fatima al-Fihri, Why Islam]
Before we start our work we should dig deep and look at our intentions. Any form of work, from construction to physician, done with purity of spirit is not only a benefit to yourself but spans out into the community, into the nation and can even span across oceans.

Every Action can be a Prayer

I used to think it was impossible to change others. You are who you are and they are who they are and that was that. Too many things occurred in life that scarred and those scars were permanent and irreversible. People judge and react according to their scars. I've since learned there is a process, a healing if you will that can change others. It begins with yourself. If you input positive thoughts, gain knowledge about positive things, examine the scars and forgive yourself and others, the system will change and the scars will begin to dissolve. Your output becomes manners, gracefulness and smiling. Showing good character in your everyday actions will not go unnoticed. When people see how you act, they will reflect on themselves. To quote a dear friend of mine, “Every action can be a prayer”. Even if they ask themselves questions like: “Why is he not arguing?” “How come I'm angry and he isn't?” “Why is he happy all the time and what is up with that smile?” their introspective process has begun. They might even close the system by providing feedback and ask you how you are so happy and want to know what your “secret” is. It's no secret, actually it's the most beautiful thing I can think of. It's the closed loop system of Islam.

In Your light I learn how to love
In your beauty, how to make poems
You dance inside my chest where no one sees you
But sometimes I do and that sight
Becomes this art.

- Rumi

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