Book details of 'Time Management for System Administrators'

Title	Time Management for System Administrators
Author(s)	Thomas Limoncelli
ISBN	0596007833
Language	English
Published	November 2005
Publisher	O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Time Management for System Administrators':

Reviewer Koos van den Hout wrote:
First of all: yes, I am a system administrator in my dayjob. So I have a personal interest in reading this book. Thomas Limoncelli is a system administrator himself and writes from experience, and knows his audience and how to approach them. Using a bit of humor, good examples and some persuasion he convinces the reader to organize his work better and spend less time worrying about not having enough time. A good book for any system administrator.
Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
In the preface, Limoncelli states that he wrote this book because standard time management texts are not sufficient: system administrators (SAs) are different, and need their own advice for their own situation. Chapter one starts out with a useful technique for dealing with interruptions, just so that you can spend some time reading the book. It then proceeds with a list of time management principles couched in technical language so that system administrators will feel more comfortable with the concepts. Managing interruptions is the focus of chapter two, with a number of useful tips. Making certain functions routine, and therefore saving time on decisions, is reviewed in chapter three. Chapters four through seven detail a time management process which incorporates to-do lists, schedules, calendars, and long-term goals. Chapter eight looks at standards for setting priorities. Stress management, and various ways to handle it, are covered in chapter nine. Chapter ten deals with something we can all use: ways to manage email effectively. Identification of common time-wasting activities, and the elimination thereof, is the topic of chapter eleven. There are many situations where much time is wasted doing research because documentation is not available, so chapter twelve's examination of the different types and forms of documentation is a worthy one. The why, when, and how of automation is discussed in chapter thirteen. Time management is important, and Limoncelli has provided a number of useful tips in the book. (Time spent reading it is definitely an investment that will provide returns for those who find themselves constantly swamped.) On the other hand, aside from the specific areas where he uses technical examples, I'm not sure why the author is so certain that regular time management books can't help: the advice given here is found in many other places as well. copyright Robert M. Slade, 2006
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Book description:

Time is a precious commodity, especially if you're a system administrator. No other job pulls people in so many directions at once. Users interrupt you constantly with requests, preventing you from getting anything done. Your managers want you to get long-term projects done but flood you with requests for quick-fixes that prevent you from ever getting to those long-term projects. But the pressure is on you to produce and it only increases with time. What do you do? The answer is time management. And not just any time management theory--you want Time Management for System Administrators, to be exact. With keen insights into the challenges you face as a sys admin, bestselling author Thomas Limoncelli has put together a collection of tips and techniques that will help you cultivate the time management skills you need to flourish as a system administrator. Time Management for System Administrators understands that an Sys Admin often has competing goals: the concurrent responsibilities of working on large projects and taking care of a user's needs. That's why it focuses on strategies that help you work through daily tasks, yet still allow you to handle critical situations that inevitably arise. Among other skills, you'll learn how to: * Manage interruptions * Eliminate timewasters * Keep an effective calendar * Develop routines for things that occur regularly * Use your brain only for what you're currently working on * Prioritize based on customer expectations * Document and automate processes for faster execution What's more, the book doesn't confine itself to just the work environment, either. It also offers tips on how to apply these time management tools to your social life. It's the first step to a more productive, happier you.