I take occasional "brain breaks" at the office, to refresh me before I set upon the next course of work. Mostly I like to troll around a favorite set of websites and links from them. So it was today that I happened across this book recommendation – I think on Brent Ozar's site – for a 2006 book entitled "Time management for system administrators", by Tom Limoncelli (see his blog at http://everythingsysadmin.com/, he seems like good people). There's a preview available online, so I skimmed it. This caught my eye:
Over the years, I've decided the answer to these questions is always "yes". I can now stop wasting brainpower trying to make a decision each time the issue comes up.
Would this be a good time to save the file I'm working on?
Should I take my organizer with me (versus leaving it here)?
Should I add this to my to do list?
Should I check my calendar before I agree to this appointment?
Should I write this on my calendar?
Should I check to see whether I have plans after work before I agree to stay late?
Should I check to see whether I have any early appointments before I decide to play one more game of Half Life this morning?
Should I do The Cycle today (versus slacking off)?
Should I fill my car's gas tank now (versus procrastinating until it is an emergency)?
Should I do this small task or chore now (versus procrastinating and hoping nobody notices or the task doesn't turn into an emergency)?
This, and pretty much all of the other content posted on the preview, appealed to me. After all, I've just come from being a full time mom and part time contractor, to full time mom and office drone, producing training videos, articles, and blogs, and trying to slip in the occasional "having a life". I could do with a little time management aimed specifically at IT people.
-Jen McCown, http://www.MidnightDBA.com