Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Follow these 5 tips to ensure a stress-free, meaningful Ramadhan

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Mary Oommen -

While it is often a real balancing act to manage family, work, and other commitments before and during Ramadhan, it need not always be stressful. The secret lies in planning ahead. Get into the spirit of the season and fortify yourself physically. This is important because, it can be a real challenge to be on your feet all day, taking care of your children, home and work and still have enough time and energy left for devoting to meaningful Ibadah. For home-maker’s it’s a real struggle to cope with cooking so many meals, waking up for Suhoor, and possibly entertaining guests. The solution? Create a daily menu for the holy month, one that best suits your family’s tastes and needs, and plan quantities required. This will help, not only to reduce waste, but will also make grocery shopping easier.


Remember to make a detailed list and shop for pantry items in bulk since you will probably be doing a lot of cooking and won’t want to spend too many precious hours shopping during Ramadhan.


Once the tedious grocery shopping is done, take time to ensure that everything is prepped. Cleaning, cutting, and seasoning anything that you can freeze will help you put together meals on short notice. Process and store foods for the days that you might wake up late, or for meals that will require a lot of prep hours.


Keep it simple. Cook regular, well-balanced, simple meals like any other time of the month and save the traditional, elaborate meals for the weekends when you have help or time on your hands and are more relaxed. Keep the kids in mind when planning your menu. This is important and a real sanity saver, because during Ramadhan, when you are fasting, your child may not have the same meals that you are eating. When a child is low on sleep or hungry, that is when tantrums usually happen. So, prepare in advance and avoid stressful meltdowns.


Take some time to clean and decorate the house and reduce clutter. This will take away the worry of ensuring a well-kept house when guests are expected during Iftar. Give away things that you don’t use any more and ensure that essential items are stocked and stored in their proper place. Get the family to help and involve them in the cooking or decorating process. Involve your children and share the spirit of Ramadhan with them by talking to them about what is expected, and telling them how their schedules will change.


Apart from the daily tedious tasks, one of the most important aspects of Ramadhan is getting a better understanding of your faith. Ramadhan flies by so fast every year, so if you do not want to have that feeling of being lost during the holy month, set clear goals from the very beginning. Make a list of things you would like to achieve during Ramadhan. Ramadhhan is an amazing opportunity for us to better ourselves, create better habits, let go of ineffective ones, and set the tone for a blessed and productive year. Be it reading the entire Quran, or practicing the Sunnah, ensuring you pray Taraweeh every night or inviting families over for Iftar. Remember to keep the goals realistic. Calculate your Zakat al Fitr well in advance so you’re not left in a rush and make arrangements of when and where you will pay it. Setting spiritual goals for the month will help you stay focused and make this holy time more meaningful.


Lastly, try to get everything Eid related done before Ramadhan begins. Shop for gifts and get them wrapped and ready, get decorations in place and plan for Eid get-togethers. This way, the last few days of Ramadhan can be spent in calmness and prayer. Allocating specific time for Ibadah, household work, children, office, sleep etc and planning everything beforehand will help to maximise productivity. This will not only reduce stress but will also give you precious pockets of time to relax in.


For homemakers, one of the most overwhelming thoughts that comes with the arrival of Ramadhan is how are we going to best combine our responsibilities in the home with an increase in Ibadah. Ramadhan should not be a time when people feel over-burdened and stressed out with workloads. It is a time to be calm, to practice self-restraint; a time to cleanse the body and soul from impurities and re-focus one’s self on the worship and love of God.


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