Time Management for System Administrators: Fundamental Principles

Learning time management from system administrators (SAs) is an inspiring experience, as we all face the same challenges—endless interruptions, concurrent projects, and sudden demands.

Moreover, system administrators must deal with these issues even more frequently, as Thomas Limoncelli puts it:

For system administrators, your boss evaluates you based on whether you complete projects, while your clients only care about whether you can meet their demands on time.

Here are the time management rules for SAs.

• Interruptions are the biggest enemy of productivity.

  • Establish a "disruption shield" shift mechanism with colleagues to ensure that only one person can be distracted at a time.
  • Set aside large blocks of dedicated time for projects.
  • Close the office door (of course, if you are a manager, don’t do this).
  • Have junior engineers sit outside your office to filter out 80% of the distractions.

• Consolidate all time management information in one place.

• Save mental energy for important tasks.

• Don’t constantly think about how to manage time; instead, develop routines, habits, and mantras.

  • Routines are a series of predefined steps that occur within a specific timeframe.
  • Habits are actions that people can perform without thinking.
  • Mantras are simple rules of thumb.

• Maintain focus during projects, but this requires good self-discipline.

  • Self-discipline enhances self-esteem. Self-esteem is like poker chips. When we have higher self-esteem, we tend to place higher bets to win bigger rewards.

• Use the same tools to manage your social life.