- Resort to Allah with du`a’ with whatever wording you like. You can implore Him saying, “My Lord! Relieve my mind and ease my task for me.”

- Go to bed early to wake up fresh and be on time.

- Take all necessary tools with you, because good preparation helps you to concentrate and answer well.

- Remember to recite the du`a’ of leaving the house:

“In the Name of Allah, I have put my trust in Allah, there is neither might nor power but in Allah! O Allah, I ask refuge in You from stumbling and from being made to stumble, from straying and from being made to stray, from doing wrong to others and from being wronged by others, and from misunderstanding and from being misunderstood.”

- Don’t forget to draw your parents’ pleasure; their du`a’ for you is answered by Allah.

- Start with saying “Bis millah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim” (in the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful). It is generally recommended for a Muslim to begin every permissible act with these words, as they entail Allah’s blessings, support and success.

- Be conscious of Allah in dealing with your colleagues. Do not let your fears and worries spread to them. Try to make the atmosphere optimistic. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) urged optimism and liked to hear encouraging words on setting out for something. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) heard of a people who named their son Suhayl, meaning “easy,” he prayed for them, “May Allah make things easy for you.” So be optimistic concerning yourself and your colleagues, and be sure that you will pass the exam successfully by Allah’s Grace.

- Remembrance of Allah wards off worry and tension. If you find any question difficult, pray to Allah to make it easy for you. Sheikh Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah bless his soul) used to pray to Allah whenever he found anything difficult, saying: “O You Who taught Ibrahim, teach me; O You Who made things understandable to Sulayman, make them so for me.”

- Choose your seat during the exam, if possible, and sit with your back upright.

- Read through all the exam first. Educational research recommends spending 10 percent of the total exam time to read all the questions carefully, determine the keywords, and schedule the remaining time for the questions.

- Divide your time so that you can answer the easy questions first and the difficult ones afterwards. While you read the questions, write some helping notes and remarks.

- Begin with the questions that you know best, turn to the more difficult questions, and leave the most difficult, those that will take much time, and those that are worth fewer marks for later.

- Be patient and take your time while answering the questions and do not be hasty, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Patience is imbued by Allah, and rush behavior is insinuated by Satan.” (Sound hadith, Sahih Al-Jami`)

- Concentrate while answering multi-choice questions. If you are sure of the right answer, don’t leave a space for doubt. If you are not sure of the right answer, eliminate the wrong options in the first place and then choose the most likely to be right. Once you choose an answer, do not change it unless you come to know that it is wrong, as you may lose marks in this way. Educational research has proven that, in case of uncertainty, the right answer is usually the one that appeals to the student in the first place.

- When you do a written exam, think carefully before you start an answer. Write some guidelines and keywords, arrange your thoughts, and write them in the order you wish to reveal them.

- Write the main points of your answer at the beginning so that the teacher who evaluates the exam can grasp them on the spot; if they are not prominent, the teacher may not notice them when reading in a hurry.

- Assign 10 percent of the total time of the exam to review your answers. Be patient while doing so, especially in reviewing mathematical problems. Resist your desire to hand in the answer paper before the due time, and do not be influenced by your colleagues who submit their answer papers hurriedly. Their haste may only be a sign of desperation.

- If, after the exam, you discover that you answered some questions wrong, do not feel depressed or desperate. Rather, be content with Allah’s decree and remember the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “. . . and if anything (in the form of trouble) comes to you, don’t say: If I had not done that, it would not have happened so and so, but say: Allah did that what He had ordained to do. And your ‘if’ opens the (gate) for the Satan” (Muslim). Also learn a lesson from that situation, so that in the future you should prepare yourself well and not be hasty.

- Know that cheating is prohibited in any subject. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “He who cheats us does not belong to us.”

- Cheating in exams is a form of transgression and a prohibited channel to get higher marks and certificates undeservingly. Helping someone to cheat is also prohibited, as it is cooperating in the course of sin and transgression. So keep yourself away from prohibited acts and refuse any offer to let you cheat, and Allah the Almighty will make you in no need of any such acts. Whoever abandons some act for the sake of Allah, will be compensated by Allah with something more precious.

- Moreover, you must forbid evil and resist it as best as you can, so long as this would not entail any harm for you. You should inform the supervisors of any prohibited act during the exam, as this is not backbiting. It is rather an application of the divine injunction to Muslims to forbid the evil.

- You can advise those who sell exams to students and the latter who buy them. These and others who publish the exams through the Internet and other mass media, and those who facilitate cheating should all fear Allah. Tell your colleagues that cheating is prohibited and earnings from it are ill-gotten. Instead of spending the time in preparing for cheating, students should study their lessons, answer model exams, and cooperate with any study groups before the exam. This would actually be better for them.

- Finally, remember the greatest examination is in the grave and on the Day of Judgment, and consider what you have prepared for it. Try to apply the means of delivery from Hell-Fire. Allah the Almighty says: “Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life)” (Al `Imran: 185).

Excerpted, with slight modifications from: www.islam-qa.com

1. There is purpose — an intention to have something different in some way. (We?re taking a vacation to relax and have fun with new experiences.) At this same level are the values that provide the parameters of behavior. (We want to share it together, considering each player equally, and it needs to be affordable.)
2. A vision is created to reflect what the purpose expressed or fulfilled would look like in the world. (We?re going to Italy next summer for two weeks, touring the major cities and sites, combining gardens, art, shopping, food and wine, and off-the-beaten-path exploring.)
3. We brainstorm all sorts of ideas and details to consider in order to have the trip happen. (When? Which cities? Car or trains? Tickets for galleries? Day trips? Weather and dress? And so on.)
4. We organize all of our thinking into components and subcomponents, often with sequences and priorities. (Reservations and ticketing, arranging personal and work logistics so we can unhook, organizing clothes and accessories, packing, and the like.)
5. We decide next actions and who has them, to create forward motion on all movable fronts of the project. (Surf the Web for gardens to tour, call Jessica re: her suggestions for Umbria, browse the travel store for maps and gear while waiting for the Frommer?s guide we ordered. . . .)

Engaging in this series of events is how we all get things done, naturally and instinctively, all the time. An intention initiates our creative energy; an outcome vision directs our thinking about all kinds of details and considerations; we organize the pieces into a coherent structure; we take physical action steps to put the parts into motion. As simple and obvious as this process may seem when dealing with something as straightforward as a vacation, in more complex enterprises these sequential phases often need some care and feeding to ensure effective implementation.

The model can supply some critical guidelines for leaders to use to handle the operational side of their roles, preventing initiatives from getting stuck and ensuring effective allocation of knowledge-worker resources. Organizing without sufficient brainstorming can undermine a plan. Action off purpose can be chaotic. A vision without accountability for relevant projects can be vacuous. Thinking at these various levels of creative development and decision making does not often happen by itself, either, and a conscious, intentional energy is required to direct the focus at the right horizon at the right time. Let?s take a closer look at each level.

Another decent article !

Why Time Scheduling?

   Students who deliberately undertake to schedule their time are not ones who have decided to spend all their time studying and doing nothing else.They usually have decided to use efficiently the time they have to spend studying anyway, and to "de-sensitize" themselves to the many distractions that are commonly occurring.

   What does this "desensitizing" involve?It means removing oneself from constant day-to-day, hour-to-hour decisions as to whether one will or will not spend the next hour studying,whether one will or will not go to the library to study,whether one will or will not go to a show on impulse, and whether or not to use that hour between classes to get next week's lab assignment out of the way.

   A workable time schedule can make decisions for you, thus desensitizing you to momentary distractions. And, an hour of study in one course is not disturbed by wondering when you will study for another course, or when you'll be able to get out and have some fun. An adequate schedule includes those for you.

How Much Time Scheduling?

   Usually a minimum time schedule is best. In other words, plan what you know is necessary, and add to it later only if necessary.But plan as your first schedule one you know you can keep, and one that  it is important to you to keep.

First:                 What courses are you taking? (list them on a sheet of paper)

Second:            How many hours do you estimate you should study for each course each week to do a

                        minimum job?

Third:                What's the total minimum hours per week for all courses?

Fourth:  List your present time schedule for the week, including all fixed times, such as classes,

                        laboratories, club meetings, outside work, travel, eating, and times you go out for

                        recreation (usually leave at least Friday and Saturday evenings open for recreation).

Fifth:                 Now fill in the remaining hours each week with the number of hours you need to assign to

                        study  according to your decision in step two, either by

                        1)Setting up certain hours in which to study subjects, or

                        2)Setting aside certain hours that you will study, but not deciding in advance which

                        courses will be studied in which hours.

Sixth:                Keep your schedule where you can see it. It should be conspicuous, so put it on top of

                        your desk, or pinned on the wall.

Remember:   -Keeping to a schedule is not a matter of "will power," but of the development of a habit of 

                        referring to the schedule and following its outline, and this habit development may take

                        weeks of practice.

                        -Don't let the extra study that you may find necessary interfere with your recreation hours

                        take time from unscheduled hours.

                         -Exceptions will occur, but afterwards return to the schedule's pattern.

2.  Create a term calendar, recording major events.

3.  Create a weekly schedule of your classes, labs, drill, meetings, etc.

4.  Decide on specific times to work on each course.

5. Make a to-do list for each day the night before or during breakfast.

Adapted from A. Lakein. How to Get Control of Your Time And Your Life

Efficiency is a good thing. What ever you are doing whether it be important, interesting, useful or something you just have to do; efficiency is key in getting it done. If you are not efficient then you are most probably not relaxed when doing it. In the following you will learn how to be efficient and have the desired result and be able to get things done respectively.

When doing something you need to ask yourself a few questions:

• What is it that you have to do?
• When you have to do it?
• How do you do it?

The book is divided into three parts:

• Part 1 – The Art of Getting Things Done – It is describing the whole game. A brief overview of the system and an explanation of why it’s unique and timely. Its presenting the basic methodologies
• Part 2 – Practicing Stress-Free Productivity – Shows how to implement the system. A personal Coach and a step by step.
• Part 3 – The Power of the Key Principals - Goes deeper describing the more profound results you can expect when you incorporate the methods and models into your work and life

"The art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of our great men."

- Captain J.A. Hatfield

The methods that will be presented are based on two key objectives:

• Capturing all the things that need to get done-now, later, someday, big, little, or in-between-into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your mind
• Disciplining yourself to make front-end decision about all the "inputs" you let into your life so that you will always have a plan for "next actions" that you can implement or renegotiate at any moment

The problem people have these days is that there are new demands, and insufficient resources. People say they have so much to do and not enough time.

"Anxiety is caused by lack of control, organization, preparation, and action"

- David Kekich

"I consider ‘work’ in its most universal sense, as meaning anything that you want or need to be different than it currently is. Many people make a distinction between ‘work’ and ‘personal life’, but I don't: to me, weeding the garden or updating my will is just as much ‘work’ as writing this book or coaching a client. All the methods and techniques in this book are applicable across that life/work spectrum-to be effective, they need to be."

- Dave Allen

Work No Longer Has Clear Boundaries

In the old days work was self evident. What was needed to be done was obvious, and it was clear when the work was finished and not finished. Now a day’s people are doing so many different things at once. As a result even if we tried we would never be able to finish it with perfection. Many of today's organizational outcomes require cross-decisional communication, cooperation, and engagement.

"Time is the quality of nature that keeps event from happening all at once. Lately it doesn't seem to be working"
- Anonymous

"Almost every project could be done better, and an infinite quantity of information is no available that could make that happen."
- Dave Allen

Our Jobs Keep Changing

"We can never really be prepared for that which is wholly new. We have to adjust ourselves, and every radical adjustment is a crisis in self-esteem we under go a test, we have to prove ourselves. It needs subordinate self-confidence to face drastic change without inner trembling."
- Eric Hoffer

"The hurrier I go, the behinder i get."
- Anonymous

The Old Models and Habits Are Insufficient

The traditional approaches to time management and personal organization were useful in the 'Old days'. Today time itself is a work factor. Personal calendar are the key work tool.

"The wubds abd waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators.”
- Edward Gibbon

The "Big Picture" vs. the Nitty-Gritty

In order for people to deal with modern time has championed the "bigger view" as the solution. Clarifying major goals and values, so the thinking goes, gives order, meaning, and direction to the work. However in practice thinking about that too much often doesn't achieve its desired results. The reasons for that are:

• ·         There is to much distraction at the day to day, hour to hour level to allow for that much focus on the higher levels
• ·         Ineffective personal and organizational systems create huge subconscious resistance to undertaking even bigger projects and goals that will likely not be managed well, in turn will cause more distraction and stress.
• ·         When the levels are clarified it raises the bar of our standards, making us notice that much more that needs changing.

"Focusing on values does not simplify your life. It gives meaning and direction- and a lot more complexity"
- Dave Allen

The "Mind Like Water" Simile

You have the freedom to choose what you want to do, but then you also have the responsibility to find out how to do it. In Karate there is a concept of total and perfect readiness known as 'Mind like Water'. If a pebble is thrown into a still pond the water responds 'appropriately to the force and mass of the input'. Meaning the water doesn’t over react or under react. If you over react or under react to thing interrupting you 'to do list' then you will get less effective results. Many people give more or less attention to stuff than it deserves. You need to have a MIND LIKE WATER

"Life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece."
- Nadia Boulanger

"Your ability to generate power is directly proportional to your ability to relax"
- Dave Allen

"If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything. It is open to everything"
- Shunryu Suziki

"Anything that causes you to overreact or under react can control you, and often does"
- Dave Allen

The Principle: Dealing Effectively with Internal Commitments

Most of the stress people experience comes from inappropriately managed commitment they make or accept. People many times have things on their mind, usually things that are 'incomplete'. These are known as 'open loops'.

In order to deal with it effectively you must first identify and collect all those things that re "ringing your bell" in someway, and then plan how to handle them.

"Any thing that does not belong where it is, the way it is, is an "open loop" pulling on you attention."
- Dave Allen

An Important Exercise to Test This Model

• Write down the project or situation that is most on your mind at this moment
• Now describe, in a single written sentence, your intended successful outcome of this problem or situation.
• Now write down the very next physical action required to move the situation forward.

Do the above now…
What probably happened after doing the above exercise is that you acquired a clearer definition of the outcome desired and the next action required. What created that is thinking

"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought"
- Henry Bergson

”The ancestor of every action is a thought”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

• you haven’t clarified exactly what that intended outcome is
• you haven’t decided what the very next physical action step is
• you haven’t put reminders of the outcome and the action required in a system you trust.

Your mind can't let go until and unless you write yourself a reminder in a place it knows you will, without fail, look.

This constant, unproductive preoccupation with all things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy.
- Kerry Gleeson