Productive Ramadan: An Exclusive Interview with Abu Productive

How does Bro Muhammad Faris (abu productive) spend his Ramadan? To find out, I conducted an interview with the energetic, super-productive Bro. Muhammad Faris.

Abu Productive (Muhammad Faris) is the founder & CEO of ProductiveMuslim, a website dedicated to Islam & Productivity. He is an international speaker, author, and coach dedicated to boosting productivity in the Ummah. More recently, he released his book “The ProductiveMuslim Book – Where Faith Meets Productivity “.

I hope you enjoy this special interview I had with brother Muhammad Faris, where he shares some insight from the world of a productivity Ramadan!In this interview I talked about the best ways to nourish ourselves for peak performance throughout the day.

Ramadan Exclusive Interview with Abu Productive

Bushrah: Aslam-o-AlakumWarhmatullahWabaraktuhu Dear Bro Mohammed Faris! Hope you are doing well. JazakAllahKhaira for joining us for this interview for my blog RecipesTable.com.

Bushrah: For our fans, Can you please explain What Productive Ramadan Transformation is and what is involved?

Muhammad Faris: ProductiveRamadan Transformation is the understanding that Ramadan is an opportunity to transform ourselves to become better and more productive human beings instead of leading unproductive lives.

It’s about turning the challenges that Ramadan throws at us (the fasting, the long night prayers, the lack of sleep) and turning them into opportunities to test our human capacity and show the world what we can do despite these challenges.

Bushrah: Why are you so passionate about productivity?

Muhammad Faris: I believe that productivity is the answer to many of the challenges facing the Ummah. Unfortunately, we’ve become an unproductive Ummah, consuming more than producing, expecting government welfare instead of creating wealth, and we lack the motivation and innovation to lead ourselves forward.

That’s from a macro perspective – but from a micro/individual perspective; leading a productive life is leading a meaningful life. A philosopher once said: “We are happiest when we are striving after something”

Bushrah: First of all we would like to know how brother Abu Productive (productivity guru) spends his Ramadan.

Muhammad Faris: I divide my time in Ramadan in 3 parts:

A portion for my Lord; focusing on Salah, Taraweeh, and reciting Quran.
A portion for my family; focusing on spending quality time with them at home and not travel so much.
A portion for my ProductiveMuslim; doing some writing, thinking, reading on topics that relate to productivity and Ramadan and engaging with the ProductiveRamadan.com online course students.

Bushrah: What is your fondest childhood memory about Ramadan?

Muhammad Faris: I grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia most of my life, so my fondest childhood memory about Ramadan is simply feeling the spirit of Ramadan in the air in the entire city and attending taraweeh with my dad at different mosques across the city.

Bushrah: Do you create a meal plan during Ramadan to ensure your body is receiving the correct foods and nutrition? And do you choose lighter food than usual?

Muhammad Faris: Alhamdulillah – my wife is very conscious of our food and we discuss meal plans in advance so we avoid unhealthy options.

We stick to low GI food (especially for suhoor) and try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and vegetarian options at night.

I’ve cut down on tea and coffee to almost zero intake in the month (except for herbal tea) and alhamdulillah – managed to stay away from sweets most nights.

Bushrah: : How do you prepare yourself physically for this fasting period? So that you won’t run out of Stream and will keep going the whole working day? For example, do you take vitamins or eat nutritional fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts?

Muhammad Faris: We eat a hearty healthy low GI oatmeal dish for suhoor which contains:

Organic steel cut oats
Bananas
Berries (blackberries and blueberries)
Raw Nuts
Flaxseed/Chia Seeds
Almond Milk

If we have time, we have fruits and then we cap the suhoor with 2 glasses of water.

We’ve been having the same suhoor every day since the beginning of Ramadan and seems to work well with us.

Combination of eating low GI food + naps in the day and I find myself able to work for at least 8-10 hours in the day.

Bushrah: What’s your daily routine in ramadan? And What changes do you make in Ramadan to your technology usage, socail life?

Muhammad Faris:

4:00am – 4:40am: Suhoor
40am – 5.30am: Fajr at Masijd
30am – 6.30am: Stay until sunrise with Quran Recitation + Athkar
30am – 7.30am: Come home + get ready for the day
7:30am – 12.00pm: Work Work Work
00pm – 1.30pm: Long Nap
30pm – 2.30pm: Dhuhur Prayers @ Masjid
30pm – 6.00pm: Work Work Work
00pm – 7.00pm: Asr prayers @ Masjid
00pm – 8.30pm: Quality time with family
30pm – 9.45pm: Iftar + Maghreb + get ready for Isha
45pm – 11.30pm: Isha + Taraweeh
30pm – 12:00am: Quality time with spouse
00am – 4.00am: Sleep

Bushrah: : What would be your most important goals for you personally to achieve in this Ramadan?

Muhammad Faris: I have set 3 goals for myself:

Complete the preparation for the launch of the post-Ramadan course
Complete preparing website + brochures for a new productivity company I’m launching for corporate
Complete designing a Youth Accelerator program for Masajids and Youth groups in North America.

As you probably notice – the above are not “typical” Ramadan goals. I personally seek the Barakah in Ramadan to get a lot of important work done.

Bushrah: How we can have a transformational Productive Ramadan? Any Productive tips?

Muhammad Faris: Start by setting meaningful goals. Then align your energy management (nutrition, fitness and sleep), your focus management, and your time management to achieving those goals.

If you have no goals for Ramadan (Spiritually-Physically-Socially), you’ll simply waste Ramadan.

Think of goals that if you implement them during Ramadan will transform your life after Ramadan.

Bushrah: There have been a lot of exciting things happening with Productive Muslim Academy lately MashAllah, can you tell us about some of your latest initiatives? And how our users can benefit from productive muslim academy?

The ProductiveMuslim Academy is our way to fill the gap of personal development training for the Muslim world that’s based on the Quran and Sunnah and latest personal development science.

We’ve made the academy practical and useful for the on-the-go professional, busy student, and workin moms because we firmly believe that learning the practical tools to grow and develop can mean the difference between a life well-lived or a failure in this life and the next.

We’ve made the Academy very affordable; you’ll have access to all ProductiveMuslim courses and classes + private facebook group with the community of learners + exclusive webinars, all the above for just $14.99/month (or $0.50 per day!). We hope that your followers and readers can join us to make the most of the Academy and grow with us inshaAllah.

Bushrah: Finally, do you have a message for all our Muslims Fans around the World?

The best advice I can give, is the advice I heard from Sh.Bin Bayyah many years ago, he said “Have sincere intentions and work hard”. That’s the formula for succcess.

JazakiAllahkhair for having me on your blog

Bushrah: Jazakillah khaira for taking the time to share your thoughts about training during Ramadan. I’ve certainly learned a lot and I hope folks who read this interview will feel the same. InshaAllah