Ep. 7: Training Your Brain to Focus | Habits To Win Here and Hereafter

**Correction @2:20 - [ Qur'an 17:78 ]

The Prophet ﷺ said, "My ummah is endowed with blessings in the early mornings." This is a huge hint for us to make the most of the early hours of the day and to sharpen our focus through prayer, contemplation, and Islam's own form of "brain-training."

A keystone habit

Have you ever set your alarm an entire hour before you need to wake up, just so you can clean your room, make breakfast, or go for a morning walk before you leave for class or work? If you can accomplish whatever task you plan for the morning before your day starts, it feels great. It could be something as simple as making breakfast rather than running to grab a granola bar or chug a cup of coffee, but it makes the world of a difference to our day.

That’s because this type of an action can become a “keystone habit.” They’re the kind of habits that we choose to prioritize and, once completed, trigger a sense of accomplishment and energy that gets channeled throughout the rest of your day.

The night prayer gives you strength

When the Prophet ﷺ was facing his earliest and most difficult challenges as a Messenger of God, Allah (swt) comforted him by encouraging him to rise for late night salah in particular: inna nashiat al-layl hiya ashshaddu watan wa-aqwamu qila [73:6]. “Night prayer makes a deeper impression and sharpens words.”

The night prayers give you both internal and external strength. They give you firmness and resolve in your faith and actions.

And it doesn’t end there.

There are blessings in the morning

The Prophet ﷺ told us that boorika li-ummati fi bukuriha, that "my ummah is endowed with barakah or blessings in the early mornings".

Our brains are wired to achieve optimal productivity in the mornings. By waking up early, orienting your day through the remembrance of Allah, and getting a head start, you’ve unlocked one of the most powerful secrets to a productive day.

Build focus and concentration by memorizing the Qur'an

So what are we encouraged to do with this blessed time and prime brain power?

Inna Qur’an al-fajr kana mashhuda [17:78]. "Recite Qur’an and the angels will testify on your behalf."

Reciting, and in particular, memorizing Quran in the morning boosts our focus and brain power. You are literally training your brain to concentrate. In doing so, you have to block out distractions, which helps you train your brain to overcome distraction as well. And if you spend only 5, 10, 15 minutes every morning trying to memorize just one or a handful of verses, you’ve built far more than a day’s supply of focus and concentration.

Download the Habits to Win Here and Hereafter Workbook as you follow along with this series!