Time Management for System Administrators: Radically Automating with Routines
Why are routines a good thing? Routines allow you to think once and use it repeatedly.
Routines can include the following:
- Refueling your car on Sundays
- Always carrying a notebook
- Meeting with your boss regularly
- Communicating with employees regularly
- Engaging with clients regularly
- Informing management promptly when servers go down
- Using automated checks for specific tasks
- Always backing up files before editing
- Writing down a "must-have items list" (especially useful for frequent travelers)
The principles for handling tasks are as follows:
- ==If something needs to be done every day, it should be completed as early as possible so you don’t have to stay up late==
- The earlier you do things, the better
- Trust the process
- If you're unsure whether to throw something away, just toss it. If you need it after discarding, you can always copy it from the data source again
- Record every task
- If you’re uncertain whether an email list is useful, then it’s useless
How can you develop your own routines? Try to identify the following situations:
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Tasks that recur without being scheduled
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Maintenance tasks
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Relationships and professional networks. Just like a garden, your network needs to be tended (if cared for, it will grow; if neglected, it will wither; if overly focused on, it may die). Here are four types of people you need to maintain relationships with:
- Clients (or SPOCs, which are single points of contact for each client group)
- Employees
- Colleagues
- Your boss
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When the time spent procrastinating exceeds the time spent taking action
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Things that are frequently forgotten
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Trivial tasks that are occasionally overlooked but shouldn't be
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Developing new skills
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Keeping up with trends through continuous reading