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. 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. 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.

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

Foreword

ix

Preface

xiii

1. Time Management Principles

1

(11)

What's So Difficult About Time Management?

3

(1)

The Principles of Time Management for SAs

4

(5)

It Won't Be Easy

9

(1)

Summary

9

(3)

2. Focus Versus Interruptions

12

(20)

The Focused Brain

13

(2)

An Environment to Encourage Focus

15

(6)

Interruptions

21

(1)

Directing Interruptions Away from You

21

(2)

You Can Say "Go Away" Without Being a Jerk

23

(6)

Summary

29

(3)

3. Routines

32

(16)

Sample Routines

33

(11)

How to Develop Your Own Routines

44

(2)

Deleting Old Routines

46

(1)

Summary

47

(1)

4. The Cycle System

48

(10)

Don't Trust Your Brain

49

(2)

Why Other Systems Fail

51

(2)

Systems That Succeed

53

(1)

The Cycle

53

(3)

Summary

56

(2)

5. The Cycle System: To Do Lists and Schedules

58

(22)

A Sample Day

59

(14)

Other Tips

73

(1)

Setting Up a PAA for Use with The Cycle

74

(1)

Setting Up a PDA for Use with The Cycle

75

(3)

Summary

78

(2)

6. The Cycle System: Calendar Management

80

(12)

How to Use Your Calendar

81

(3)

One Calendar for Business and Social Life

84

(1)

Repeating Tasks

85

(2)

Know Your Personal Rhythms

87

(1)

Know Your Company's Rhythms

88

(2)

Summary

90

(2)

7. The Cycle System: Life Goals

92

(9)

The Secret Trick

94

(1)

Setting Goals

95

(2)

Planning Your Next Steps

97

(1)

Schedule the Steps

98

(1)

Revisit Your Goals Regularly

99

(1)

Summary

100

(1)

8. Prioritization

101

(14)

Prioritizing Your To Do Lists

101

(6)

Project Priorities

107

(2)

Requests from Your Boss

109

(5)

Summary

114

(1)

9. Stress Management

115

(9)

Overload and Conflicting Directions

116

(2)

Vacation Time

118

(3)

Yoga, Meditation, and Massage

121

(2)

Summary

123

(1)

10. Email Management

124

(9)

Managing Your Email

124

(6)

Jump Starting the Process

130

(2)

Summary

132

(1)

11. Eliminating Time Wasters

133

(12)

What Is a Time Waster?

133

(1)

Avoiding the Tempting Time Wasters

134

(1)

Common Time Wasters

135

(2)

Wasteful Meetings

137

(6)

Strategic Versus Tactical

143

(1)

Summary

144

(1)

12. Documentation

145

(12)

Document What Matters to You

146

(6)

Wiki Technology

152

(3)

Summary

155

(2)

13. Automation

157

(34)

What to Automate?

158

(2)

How to Automate

160

(3)

Simple Things Done Often

163

(11)

Hard Things Done Once

174

(13)

Letting Others Do Privileged Operations

187

(2)

Summary

189

(2)

Epilogue

191

(4)

Index

195

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Time Management for System Administrators

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials