Salaam VELA fam! Ramadan Mubarak! This year Ramadan falls during an interesting time, more so in the spring than the summer. Naturally, everyone is trying to balance their work, education, home life, all the while remaining dedicated to their devotion to Islam. Oftentimes it can be difficult to find time to engage in various acts of worship- reading Qur’an, praying additional salah, etc. This blog post will highlight a few tips to help you all manage your time and make the most out of Ramadan.

1. Eat a protein rich or carb rich meal

When you are planning out your fasting schedule, try to eat a protein rich or carb rich meal. Some good options include overnight oats, protein pancakes, etc. This will help you maintain energy throughout the day and will help you stay active as well.

Try to avoid sugary or saturated fat based foods- junk food like chips, cookies, etc. because these may satisfy you temporarily but are insufficient in their nutritional content so you will feel hungry throughout the rest of the day.

2. Drink as much H2O as you can

Dehydration is a fairly common symptom among almost everyone that fasts. The best way to ensure that you remain hydrated is by drinking enough water during suhoor and then drinking enough water again when you break your fast. Another tip is to eat foods with increased water content, such as watermelon or even soups! By consuming these, you will still be able to have just enough water in your body so that you don’t feel dehydrated.

3. Hydration- Skin Care

Dehydration can cause a few different issues and immediately it affects your skin! If you haven’t already noticed, your lips are the first area on you body to become dry when you fast and this is because the skin covering your lips is one of the thinnest areas in the body, in addition to your eyelids. You can prevent excess drying of your lips and eye region by integrating hyaluronic acid into your skincare routine! Simply use a facial mist to dampen your face and apply a hyaluronic acid serum, followed with moisturizer. For your lips you can apply hyaluronic acid and lock in the hydration with a lip mask or lip balm!

4. Adjust your sleep schedule!

If you have early meetings or classes in the mornings, you should try to talk to your supervisors to see if you can come in at a later time, due to Ramadan. If they are unable to accommodate your schedule, you should try to sleep earlier than you normally would, possibly around 8pm or 9pm, so that you can get enough sleep before suhoor and if you plan to sleep in a bit before you have to go for work or school. Fasting can drastically change your sleep schedule and it is important to ensure that in addition to our hectic schedules, we are able to make time for our other acts of worship, while remaining cognitively awake. If you are unable to get the appropriate amount of sleep it can lead to possible health problems such as insomnia or fatigue.

5. Create a planner to schedule time out for religious activities

Ramadan is a blessed month and we should always try to make the most of this time by engaging in a variety of acts of worship. It can be difficult to take time out for worship during exam weeks or meetings, but the best solution for time management is to have a planner, either physical or digital, so that you can hold yourself accountable for taking time to engage in worship. Even if you can’t do as much as you hoped, as long as you are able to do a little bit throughout the day!