Time Management for System Administrators

Time is a precious commodity, especially if you're a system administrator. No other job pulls people in so many directions at once. Users interrupt you constantly with requests, preventing you from getting anything done. Your managers want you to get long-term projects done but flood you with requests for quick-fixes that prevent you from ever getting to those long-term projects. But the pressure is on you to produce and it only increases with time. What do you do? The answer is time management. And not just any time management theory--you want Time Management for System Administrators, to be exact. With keen insights into the challenges you face as a sys admin, bestselling author Thomas Limoncelli has put together a collection of tips and techniques that will help you cultivate the time management skills you need to flourish as a system administrator. Time Management for System Administrators understands that an Sys Admin often has competing goals: the concurrent responsibilities of working on large projects and taking care of a user's needs. That's why it focuses on strategies that help you work through daily tasks, yet still allow you to handle critical situations that inevitably arise. Among other skills, you'll learn how to: Manage interruptions Eliminate timewasters Keep an effective calendar Develop routines for things that occur regularly Use your brain only for what you're currently working on Prioritize based on customer expectations Document and automate processes for faster execution What's more, the book doesn't confine itself to just the work environment, either. It also offers tips on how to apply these time management tools to your social life. It's the first step to a more productive, happier you.

Autorentext

Thomas Limoncelli is a world-famous author and speaker on many topics including system administration, networking, and security. A system administrator since 1988, he now speaks at conferences around the world on topics ranging from firewall security to time management. He has worked for Cibernet, Dean For America, Lumeta, Bell Labs / Lucent, AT&T and Mentor Graphics. Along with Christine Hogan he is co-author of the book The Practice of System and Network Administration from Addison-Wesley. He holds a B.A. in C.S. from Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, USA. He publishes a blog on www.EverythingSysadmin.com

Klappentext

Time is a precious commodity, especially if you're a system administrator. No other job pulls people in so many directions at once. Users interrupt you constantly with requests, preventing you from getting anything done. Your managers want you to get long-term projects done but flood you with requests for quick-fixes that prevent you from ever getting to those long-term projects. But the pressure is on you to produce and it only increases with time. What do you do? The answer is time management. And not just any time management theory--you want Time Management for System Administrators, to be exact. With keen insights into the challenges you face as a sys admin, bestselling author Thomas Limoncelli has put together a collection of tips and techniques that will help you cultivate the time management skills you need to flourish as a system administrator.

Time Management for System Administrators understands that an Sys Admin often has competing goals: the concurrent responsibilities of working on large projects and taking care of a user's needs. That's why it focuses on strategies that help you work through daily tasks, yet still allow you to handle critical situations that inevitably arise.

Among other skills, you'll learn how to:

• Manage interruptions
• Eliminate timewasters
• Keep an effective calendar
• Develop routines for things that occur regularly
• Use your brain only for what you're currently working on
• Prioritize based on customer expectations

• Document and automate processes for faster execution

  What's more, the book doesn't confine itself to just the work environment, either. It also offers tips on how to apply these time management tools to your social life. It's the first step to a more productive, happier you.

Zusammenfassung
Presents a collection of time management tools, which addresses the very specific needs of embattled system administrators everywhere. This book shows you how to manage interruptions, eliminate timewasters, prioritize based on customer expectations, automate processes for faster execution, and more.

Inhalt

About the Author;
Foreword;
Preface;
How to Read This Book;
Audience;
About This Book;
Assumptions This Book Makes;
Conventions Used in This Book;
Using Code Examples;
We'd Like to Hear from You;
Safari® Enabled;
Acknowledgments;
Chapter 1: Time Management Principles;
1.1 What's So Difficult About Time Management?;
1.2 The Principles of Time Management for SAs;
1.3 It Won't Be Easy;
1.4 Summary;
Chapter 2: Focus Versus Interruptions;
2.1 The Focused Brain;
2.2 An Environment to Encourage Focus;
2.3 Interruptions;
2.4 Directing Interruptions Away from You;
2.5 You Can Say "Go Away" Without Being a Jerk;
2.6 Summary;
Chapter 3: Routines;
3.1 Sample Routines;
3.2 How to Develop Your Own Routines;
3.3 Deleting Old Routines;
3.4 Summary;
Chapter 4: The Cycle System;
4.1 Don't Trust Your Brain;
4.2 Why Other Systems Fail;
4.3 Systems That Succeed;
4.4 The Cycle;
4.5 Summary;
Chapter 5: The Cycle System: To Do Lists and Schedules;
5.1 A Sample Day;
5.2 Other Tips;
5.3 Setting Up a PAA for Use with The Cycle;
5.4 Setting Up a PDA for Use with The Cycle;
5.5 Summary;
Chapter 6: The Cycle System: Calendar Management;
6.1 How to Use Your Calendar;
6.2 One Calendar for Business and Social Life;
6.3 Repeating Tasks;
6.4 Know Your Personal Rhythms;
6.5 Know Your Company's Rhythms;
6.6 Summary;
Chapter 7: The Cycle System: Life Goals;
7.1 The Secret Trick;
7.2 Setting Goals;
7.3 Planning Your Next Steps;
7.4 Schedule the Steps;
7.5 Revisit Your Goals Regularly;
7.6 Summary;
Chapter 8: Prioritization;
8.1 Prioritizing Your To Do Lists;
8.2 Project Priorities;
8.3 Requests from Your Boss;
8.4 Summary;
Chapter 9: Stress Management;
9.1 Overload and Conflicting Directions;
9.2 Vacation Time;
9.3 Yoga, Meditation, and Massage;
9.4 Summary;
Chapter 10: Email Management;
10.1 Managing Your Email;
10.2 Jump Starting the Process;
10.3 Summary;
Chapter 11: Eliminating Time Wasters;
11.1 What Is a Time Waster?;
11.2 Avoiding the Tempting Time Wasters;
11.3 Common Time Wasters;
11.4 Wasteful Meetings;
11.5 Strategic Versus Tactical;
11.6 Summary;
Chapter 12: Documentation;
12.1 Document What Matters to You;
12.2 Wiki Technology;
12.3 Summary;
Chapter 13: Automation;
13.1 What to Automate?;
13.2 How to Automate;
13.3 Simple Things Done Often;
13.4 Hard Things Done Once;
13.5 Letting Others Do Privileged Operations;
13.6 Summary;
Epilogue;
What to Do with All Your "New" Free Time?;
Colophon;