How can one begin repentance and draw closer to God amidst the pressures of study and daily obligations, the absence of righteous companionship, and the fear of overdoing good deeds only to abandon them later?

Proper repentance is achieved by fulfilling five conditions: sincerity to Allah, abstaining from the sin, regretting it, resolving never to return to it, and that it occurs before the death rattle (ghargara).

To draw near to Allah and gain His pleasure, one must begin by performing the obligatory duties and abandoning sins; for the obligatory duties are never forsaken except for a legitimate Shar'i (Islamic legal) excuse.

Then, these should be followed by diligently observing the regular Sunnah prayers, and subsequently, increasing in recommended acts of worship, such as supererogatory prayers. This leads to Allah's love and proximity, as stated in the Hadith Qudsi.

To avoid boredom with acts of obedience, it is recommended to gradually increase in supererogatory and recommended acts, but not in obligatory ones. A Muslim should not perform many supererogatory acts at the beginning so as not to become bored, for the most beloved deed to Allah is that which its doer persists in, because the persistence in a little is better than a lot that is interrupted.