Time Management for Sysadmins

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Time management == organized in what you do.

The brain is known faulty hardware; it's no good for lists.

Use todo list for personal things, makes it easier to stick to.

Get coworkers to do the same, makes it easier to stick to && less embarrassing.

"I don't have time to get restarted in the program, aargh" - that's a marker to
take five minutes and get restarted.

Every day you get to the end of the list, *celebrate*. Creates a reward cycle.

Break long-term goals into smaller steps; do small steps 1/month where possible.

Tell people what your goals are, gives motivation and assistance.

How to deal with interruptions without being a dick? -> interrupt the interruption,
or hide in a conference room :)

Don't answer questions that are documented, point user to the documentation. "Some
of our documentation's out of date, where did you see that you should ask me, so I
can update it?" -- makes it easier to update the whole thing.

People bug you because you're awesome! Remember that.

"Quick question for you-" "Is the answer quick?"

Get clear requirements and deadlines to stop projects being dropped halfway
through. "I understand you want to do X, but what's your end goal?"

ToDo lists
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Don't memorise things. The human brain is not good at long lists.

Don't use zillions of scattered notes, takes too long managing paper.

Don't use a single list in a notebook. After three weeks it's a mess like scattered
notes, and it includes a guilt trip.

###The Cycle

A ToDo list for each day. At the end of the day, promote it to the next day's list.
If something needs done on Day X, add it to *that day's* ToDo.

Do tasks, then cross them off. Check remaining items at 4pm. Move low priority to
next day. High priority: call during the 4pm check to get options, or pass to
coworker, or if needs be work late -- but thanks to negotiated agreement not guilt.

Add new items to the list.

Do it for 2 weeks and get used to it. Then, prioritize in the morning to order
work.

Use due-date as the "list date", and sort by due date. That works better with
online/smartphone tools.

Copy everything from scattered notes. Either set sensible dates, or say "No, not
going to happen" and inform the person.

Prioritization != order to do things; == what do I not *need* to do today.

Have a 2hr "Work on tickets" item with an interruption shield.

Use a reasonably fine granularity -- break it down into *achievable* chunks.

Tasks appear longer than they are, enables procrastination.

How to beat reliance on deadline pressure: Set lots of small deadlines. Only talk
about one at a time. Don't tell people about the future steps too early; keeps
people focused. Give a really routine, massive, boring task that someone else can
procrastinate from.

Breaking down rewards into smaller chunks makes rewards more frequent, increases
the reward cycle.

Don't include meetings in ToDo list; block out the time when assigning stuff.

Cunning idea: file called "remember", alias remember grep $foo remember 2; file
structure: 1 line tags/description, 1 line command.

How to find time for things important but not urgent? Block out time in the
calendar in advance, set it to recur.

When crossing items off todo list, note how long it took (to nearest 1/2 hr).

Ethical bribery is a handy way to break through bureaucracy and other blockers.
Find out what people want and give it to them in exchange for them giving us useful
info. :)

Three Main Points

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1. How to get help: make a policy that people can only go to helpdesk when it is
open, can submit tickets after that.

2. What do we support: we support X, Y, and Z (version a.b.c or higher); *clearly

state versions* so you can say no.

3. What is an emergency: write a definition of an emergency. That way, if it's not

actually an emergency, you can justify lowering priorities.

Software
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* Remember The Milk (xplat)

* Evernote (xplat)