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Burhan Ali

Creative Director at Vision Reality

Highlights

Aug 14 · linkedin

1 in 2 people with poor mental health suffer from below average sleep quality.

For those who know, it’s a terrible cycle. Poor sleep quality leads to poor mental health and vice versa.

I have an interesting relationship with sleep. Last summer I used my newly acquired sleep knowledge to thrive off 3-5 hours of sleep per night.

This summer? The range grew larger 😂

So what happened; how did I do it before, and why did I fail this time? Well, notice how in the first sentence I mentioned sleep quality, and not sleep duration.

That’s because believe it or not, the number of hours you sleep is far less important. What’s way more important is the habits you keep up in and around your bed time.

Things like:

  • Setting a caffeine cut-off point
  • Getting sunlight in the morning
  • Same bed-times and wake-times
  • Not eating or drinking 2-3 hours before bed
  • No blue light an hour before bed
  • Avoiding exercise in the evening
  • Same meal times every day

As a Muslim, some of these things can be hard to keep constant based on the 24-hour clock, ESPECIALLY bed times because our prayer times shift throughout the year and require us to change plans around.

In fact, there’s a huge benefit in the distribution of our prayer times being based around the sun… But that’s a topic for another day.

The difficulty I’m having which led to my flop this year, and perhaps you may resonate is around: How do I plan my day around these habits so that I can get a high quality of sleep whilst balancing all my ventures? Essentially I failed to plan - because planning in itself became a job.

That’s where Solah comes in. It’s a venture I’ve been slowly working on for just under a year, but this time we’re taking it a lot more seriously. Because if this image is a reflection of anything, it’s the sleepless night I had this morning that forced me into the gym 😂

If you’re interested, sign up to the waitlist (link in the comments) and let me know your sleep struggles - we’re working hard on a rebrand and getting our first MVP out before 2025 iA!

#solah #sleep #health

Aug 6 · linkedin

Wrong timing? Or just about right?

It feels strange to celebrate my small win at a time like now, considering our diversity and my beliefs are being attacked by a small minority that's causing havoc on our streets.

These are scenes my father and many others will only be way too familiar with, growing up in the East End and experiencing 'Paki-bashing' from the far right.

I hope that no one in my network falls victim to the propaganda put out by the far right, whether it be here in the UK or that being spread in the Middle East. I also want to use this moment to wish well to the allies that have stood by us.

We have made significant contributions for the country we live in, and I hope my announcement of being shortlisted for the Multicultural Apprenticeship Awards can only bring some of that to light through my own contributions to my workplace and my community.

Using this moment, let me also highlight what diversity, specifically the Muslim community has brought to the United Kingdom:

  • Contributing over £31 billion to the UK economy [MEND]
  • Over £100M donated to charitable organisations annually, giving four times as much to charity as the average Brit [CIOF]
  • Over 40,000 Muslims work in the NHS, providing essential healthcare services [NHS]
  • In London alone, 13,400 Muslim-owned businesses create 70,000 jobs [MCB]

Bear in mind, most of these statistics are from a decade ago and have undoubtedly multiplied.

#MCAppAwards

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Burhan Ali
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Experience

Creative Director at Vision Reality
Partner Solutions Specialist at IBM

Education

BSc Digital & Technology Solutions, Northeastern University

Location

London, United Kingdom