How To Work Smarter (Not Harder) During Ramadan

Are you unnecessarily doing things the slower way when it comes to completing homework? Sometimes the slower way is much better, but maybe you can consider taking shortcuts during Ramadan to help ease the burden of schoolwork.

How to Work Smarter (Not Harder) During Ramadan

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"I've known students in my medical school classes who thought they get better grades by taking 'smart' pills, which in truth only allowed them to work longer and harder at being just as stellar or mediocre as they were to begin with," Jandial, a dual-trained brain surgeon and neuroscientist at City of Hope in Duarte, California writes in his new book, "Neurofitness: A Brain Surgeon's Secrets to Boost Performance and Unleash Creativity."

It may be different for blue-collar workers, who often stand all day or lift heavy objects. Instead of trying to do this without nourishment or hydration, Muslims may ask to take vacation time during Ramadan.

When Ramadan falls during the summer and the period from dawn to sunset is much longer, Muslims can fast from about 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. A little understanding from managers and co-workers can be helpful. Some accommodations may not be legally required but would be good business practice.

"There needs to be more awareness about accommodating people more proactively," said Custovic. "A lot of people are hesitant to speak up about fasting and will not ask for accommodation." It might be relatively easy to offer a fasting employee adjusted work hours and a room for prayer during Ramadan. For instance, Custovic gets up two hours earlier than usual, at 4 a.m., in the summer, so he can come to work earlier and leave earlier. And though some Muslims take five daily prayer breaks all year round, many are especially attentive to prayer during Ramadan.

"In an office setting, I don't think it would be a big deal to take a five-minute prayer break," said Robin Shea, a partner at Constangy, Brooks & Smith LLP, a national labor and employment law firm in Winston-Salem, N.C. It could be harder, he noted, in a manufacturing plant, where the worker might have to leave a machine and might have a more difficult time finding a quiet space for prayer. Prayers involve repeated prostrations and require movement and space. However, "prayers don't have to be at a particular moment," said Shea. "Even in a manufacturing environment, the employer ought to be able to plan for it."

Nevertheless, there is no reason that work should drop off altogether. With this in mind, Construction Week has compiled a list of top tips for construction outfits looking to maximise their productivity levels during the Holy Month.

Devise ways to maintain the efficiencies that have been driven during this period once working hours have returned to normal. Consider your longer-term strategies for procurement, education, and investment.

Intermittent fasting (IF) is a pattern of eating which alternates periods of fasting with periods of eating. There are three main methods: time-restricted, modified and alternate day fasting. Time-restricted IF includes only eating in a certain time window, such as the 16:8, where you eat during an 8-hour window (usually 12-8 pm) and then fast for the other 16 hours of the day. Some people may adjust and fast for 12 hours, then eat during a 12 hour window. The 5:2, referred to as modified fasting, involves restricting calories to 20-25% of energy needs on two nonconsecutive days per week (this could be as low as 500 calories per day) with no restrictions on calories or timing the other five days of the week. Complete alternate day fasting involves alternating fasting days (not eating at all) with non-fasting days (eating anything you want).

Lainey Younkin, MS, RD, LDN is a Boston-based weight loss dietitian who helps women ditch diets and change habits for a healthy lifestyle that lasts. She helps frustrated women, who feel like they eat healthy and workout but still can't lose weight, work smarter not harder to lose weight and keep it off. Follow along on Instagram at @weight.loss.dietitian.

In a pair of lawsuits, EEOC v. JBS USA, LLC d/b/a JBS Swift & Company, 10-CV-02103 PAB-KUM (D. Colo.), and EEOC v. JBS USA, LLC d/b/a JBS Swift & Company, 8:10-cv-00318-TDT (D. Neb.), the Equal Opportunity Commission joined with individual Muslim plaintiffs to sue the meatpacking giant, Swift. The complaints centered on religious and national origin discrimination and the creation of hostile work environment. The workers allege that Swift failed to accommodate religious beliefs by refusing to allow them to pray and retaliated by terminating their employment when they requested that the evening break be moved so that they could break their fast and pray at sundown during Ramadan.

How it works: There are two common approaches to fasting: One is to eat very few calories on certain days, then eat normally the rest of the time. The other involves eating only during certain hours, and skipping meals for the rest of each day.

The less time spent closing, the more time organizations have to analyze operations, reallocate resources and evaluate whether they have the cash to take advantage of new opportunities. Still, accuracy cannot be sacrificed for speed, which means organizations must work smarter, not harder. 2ff7e9595c