Time Management for System Administrators

Appendix A. Epilogue

Congratulations. You’ve made it all the way to the end of the book. So now what?

First, I recommend you reread the book. We learn through repetition. If you reread (or skim) the book while the topics are fresh in your mind, it will have a strong impact.

Second, practice makes perfect. The more you practice the techniques in this book, the better you will get at them. Suddenly, you’ll find yourself knowing the techniques so well that you’ll be able to customize them and improve them in ways that make sense for your particular lifestyle or situation. One reader found that he was better able to manage his daily to do lists when he swapped the sides of his organizer where he put his schedule and to do items. Who knew? Whatever floats your boat! I just recommend you try my way first to get a sense of the system.

Third, accept slippage. Sometimes you will lapse into your old habits. That’s OK, as long as you recognize it and get back to using the techniques as soon as you can. It might be helpful to reread the appropriate chapter for some inspiration.

Fourth, you might consider reading some traditional time management books, ones not written for system administrators in particular. This book focuses on the things specific to the system administration lifestyle and leaves a lot of general topics to the other books that cover them very well. I recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen (http://www.davidco.com).

What to Do with All Your “New” Free Time?

The techniques in ...