Picture yourself being trapped in a traffic jam during rush hours, or getting stuck in huge piles of paperwork and hectic deadlines - enough to exhaust at the very thought of it and drain up your energy. Adding up on the dehydration and exhaustion from fasting during Ramadan, your productivity levels will suffer to hit an all-time low.
Ramadan is one auspicious month in the Islamic calendar. During this holy month, Muslims abstain from food and water or drinks from dawn until sunset. Since Ramadan falls primarily during June this year, those who observe this pious period can expect long days of fasting. For most regions in Southeast Asia, fasting lasts for an average of 15 hours. While maintaining high energy during Ramadan alone can be difficult, spending most of the fasting hours at work can be extremely tough.
Should working in this holy month mean surrendering to such a torture? There is no absolute denial
from the fact that working while on fast, might exhaust you more than normal days. But, Ramadan should not be the excuse behind loss of focus, lower productivity levels, or declining work quality. So how do you cope with fasting, an empty tummy and work with focus to maintain productivity? Here are some quick tips to keep your energy levels high during Ramadan and get you through days:
1. Take a power nap
Since you do not have lunch, you can trade in your lunch hour to take a power nap. Rather than working straight and ignoring to take a break, you can perhaps use these 10 to 20 minutes to snooze.
Studies have demonstrated that power nap can improve productivity, as well as help you focus better. Taking a short nap will keep your energy up after lunch, the midday critical hours where your attention span starts to fade out due to starvation and dehydration.
2. Keep busy
To keep yourself busy at work is the best way to go through the day while fasting. When you focus on getting your work done, you will not even realise how swiftly time passes by. Prove to your coworkers that you can still be fully productive during Ramadan. After all, Ramadan is not a reason to slack off work at the office and slow down your working pace.
3. Arrange your meals
Humans might be able to survive without food for weeks, but they cannot endure long without water. Therefore, during suhoor meal and iftar dinner, you should drink as much water as possible to keep your body hydrated when fasting. Since dehydration often leads to loss of focus, you should consume foods that contain high water, such as watermelon in fruits, cucumber and salads.
Balancing healthy and nutritious meals for suhoor and iftar is the key to stay refreshed during long fasting hours. For example, during suhoor, you can consume foods that contain high fibre and protein such as whole grains, lentils, or oats. These foods will keep your stomach full for longer time.
4. Save on your energy
While fasting should not prevent you from carrying out your daily work chores, it is equally important to arrange your time to do that. Save as much energy as possible by not doing heavy exercises that might drain
you off your energy during fasting times. Such as for example, you can shift your morning jogging routine to an evening one, after breaking the fast for the day.
5. Take a short walk
Staying at your desk all day for hours can be very exhausting, and sometimes can make you feel drowsy. Step away from your computer for a brief and take a short walk around the office area, this will help refresh your mind.
The key point of fasting during Ramadan is to manage your time wisely. Avoid getting into unnecessary things that might waste your time, energy, and emotions. Remember, that there are ways to observe faith without sacrificing on your active and busy working life. Happy fasting!
