Daily Archives: December 12, 2005

To save everyone the trouble, I’ll make the obvious joke: “I bought a book on time management, but I haven’t had time to read it…”

The thought of time management for system administrators is something that is thought of with a smile. We are interrupted and side tracked so much. So I bought this book with a little doubt and smile on my face. I ended up reading it twice in one weekend and started implementing Tom’s ideas the next Monday and already I am seeing more projects getting done and less things being forgotten.

There are many books out there about time management and I have read a few but they dont take into effect that System Administrators get interrupted. Tom, on the other hand, has lived and knows what its like to be in the trenches with ideas and suggestions that will work for the system administrator. This bookis very easy to read with a lot of real life experiences and stories that help show the point of the topic being discussed. It also sports a lot of UserFriendly.com comics in every chapter.

Time Management for System Administrators main goal is to get the system administrator thinking about writing things down and not trying to remember them in your head. Toms system is very easy to implement and to use. It is system-generic; whether you use a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or a PAA (Personal Analog Assistant) every thing mentioned in the book can work with and improve your current system.If you don’t currently have a system, Tom will help get you going in the right direction to better time management if you follow the cycle system discussed in Chapter 4 (which is the sample chapter on the OReilly web site: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/timemgmt/chapter/ch04.pdf)

Hey its a great book that will help you get through the day and get you working more efficiently and not be so stressed at the end of the day. The worst that will happen if you read this book is you will know how to get into Disneyland and ride all the rides without standing in line.