How I can stop laziness and procrastination especially in my Deen studies. Like memorizing Quran and Hadith. How to have high enthusiasm? How to be zealous?
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatu Allahi wa barakatuhu dear, thank you for bringing up such a critical topic that I am sure most of us if not all relate to and are concerned about.
A.N: contrary to popular belief and to my own nature I did not procrastinate this answer, I genuinely did not have time 🙈😅
So before I start, it is really important to differentiate between laziness and procrastination as they are completely different things. As an established professional chronic procrastinator Muslim woman I allow myself to say that calling my procrastination laziness could be offensive 😅🙈 (please note the dark humor)
But yeah, on a serious note, I found a very simplified article on solvingprocrastination.com that could really be helpful. What to keep in mind is that laziness is to willingly not do something or not fulfill a task whereas procrastination is unintentional, and it is often associated with stress and anxiety. A procrastinator basically knows that delaying this task will have negative consequences in the near or far future yet they can't help it, they can't bring themselves to do the task even if they tried. My therapist always says that procrastination is just the other face to anxiety. So it is a bit more complex than laziness.
With that being cleared out of the way, here are three tips that can hopefully help you in your battle:
Pray for guidance, ask Allah swt for help, for guidance, for steadfastness, for courage, for energy, for patience. In fact, you can ask Allah swt all that you want for He swt is the most generous, the ever-giving, the all-knowing.. you can make any duaas you want, let your heart speak for you. And Allah swt will answer 🤍
On the same note, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught us to say this great duaa in the morning and evening adhkar which includes seeking refuge in Allah swt from laziness:
اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ، وَالْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ، وَالْبُخْلِ وَالْجُبْنِ، وَضَلَعِ الدَّيْنِ وَغَلَبَةِ الرِّجَالِ
‘O Allaah indeed I seek refuge with You from anxiety and sadness and weakness and laziness and being miserly and being cowardly and having a burdensome debt and being overpowered by people.’
Renewing or refreshing your intentions is also an excellent idea. As humans we tend to perform better when we are highly motivated. Although motivation differs from one person to the other, it works the same or it affects us all the same way. So if you spend quite the time reminding yourself of why you wanted to do that certain task in the first place, setting the right intentions, linking it to ikhlas and being loyal to Allah swt in your intentions, foreseeing all the khayr it could bring on your life or the people around you, considering it as a good deed or as an act of sadaqah, making the intention that whatever you are doing is for the sake of Allah swt, that could be quiet the motivation that's gonna fuel you and give you high enthusiasm like you asked.
May I offer you another perspective as well? One of my sisters forward this to me today thinking it could help you:
"لو شاء ربك لجعلك تحفظ القرآن بوقت وجيز، لكن لله الحكمة البالغة...
If your Lord wanted to, He could have made you memorise the Qur'an in a short amount of time; however, Allah has an all-encompassing wisdom. Perhaps there is goodness in the delay. Maybe in the difficulty, you are elevated. Perhaps Allah wanted you to increase in repeating it, so that you may earn more rewards. Perhaps Allah tested you in memorising it in that manner so that you're constantly & continually looking into it & trying to understand it. As such, your heart is revived, your soul is repaired, and you're elevated in rank & in rewards.
Finally, I want to end my answer with one word: DISCIPLINE. DISCIPLINE. DISCIPLINE. That's what makes a difference between successful people, the one who go after their dreams, the one who make things happen, the ones who truly change their lives, vs. the ones who don't. We have to learn how to discipline ourselves. Mind over matter. Sübhanallah, when you really think of it, life is indeed too short to waste it and to not try. Eventually, on judgement day, Allah swt is going to ask us about our youth and our time, how did we spend it. May Allah swt allow us to have a pleasing answer that day. Ameen.
Bonus tip: you better start small and not put so much pressure on yourself because that would only cause more stress, frustration, anxiety, and eventually leads to deeper procrastination. You can have a clear plan, make a daily to-do list, set short-term tangible goals, set your intentions to serve Allah swt, and have tawakkul, Allahu al mustaān 🤍
I hope this answer has brought some peace to your heart and a bit of enthusiasm! May Allah swt protect you from the outcomes of laziness and help you get back on the right track. And do not forget, the adhan calls five times a day " Hayyi alaa al falah " that's a call for work, for taking initiative, for getting things done, for achieving success in shaa Allah.
All the love,
- A.Z. and the girls 🍃
