Last updated October 4, 2021

This post is part of a series on the #FiqhOfSocialMedia which has now been published as a book. Please visit Amazon to purchase.

That is, if you don't do anything about it.

Last Ramadan my schedule looked something like this:
5:45 - eat quickly, pray quickly, and back to bed
7:00 - Go to work
8:00 - 5:00pm - Struggle to stay awake and be coherent in emails and meetings
5:30p - get home and sleep
8:00p - wake up and eat
9:00p - Masjid
11:00p - eat
12:00a - try to sleep

What you'll see missing there is the extra time that was supposed to be spent reading Qur'an, making dua, and so on. By the 15th fast, my brain was fried. Praying on time was seen as a success. Eating suhur in the morning was the first thing to get neglected. 

And like most people, when my brain is fried, I veg out by scrolling through social media.

It's hard enough to adjust to the new eating and sleeping schedule. It's impossible to throw any new habits into the mix as well. It's not the time to start a new workout program, or suddenly start a social media fast. Most people cannot sustain that past the adrenaline rush of the first 10 days.

That's why this Ramadan needs to be different. We need a way to be in control of every minute, maximize every moment - all while having the mental clarity and focus needed to get the most benefit out of this blessed month.

At the root of our problems are our phones. We all know it. We just don't know what to do about it.

During the month of Ramadan specifically,

1. Our phones create a sense of Instagram Ramadan Envy

2. They keep us from waking up on time for fajr (and suhur)

3. And the worst consequence - they kill our time for making dua

Having a successful Ramadan is not complicated. All it needs is some good old fashioned focus on the basics.

To do that requires changing our relationship with our phones. And that must be done before Ramadan begins.