Get documents about "Time-Management
Document Sample
Time Management for SAs:
Getting It All Done and Not Going (More) Crazy
Instructor: Tom Limoncelli
With Material From:
“The Practice of System and Network
Administration” by Limoncelli & Hogan
http://www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Why is time-management
difficult for SAs?
Constant interruptions
Project-oriented work requires
sustained focus
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 3
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Why don’t (?) time-management
books work for SAs?
Unusual mix of interruptions and
projects
High number of concurrent short-term
projects
Technical people don’t like someone
else telling them how to work
SAs don’t like touchy-feely stuff
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 4
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
What’s this class about?
Dealing with interruptions
– Minimizing them
– Managing them better
Focus
– Keeping “on focus”
– Perfect follow-through
– Never missing a date
Retaining your social life
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 5
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
OVERVIEW
Introductions (5 min) Paper
Why is TM difficult for SAs Manage Email
General Principles Manage your boss
Dealing with Interruptions Junk Tasks
Perfect Follow-Through (“Task Documentation
Management’) Potpourri:
Calendar Management – Packing for a trip
Life Goals – Vacation
Handling Interruptions – Automating Tasks
Task management – Scheduling fun things
– The Movie List
BREAK
– Relaxation
Prioritization Based on
Perception – Keeping a clean desk
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 6
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Who is this guy?
Tom Limoncelli
– SA since 1988, UNIX since 1991
– Currently Director of Network Operations,
Lumeta Corp. Previously at Bell Labs.
– Co-author: “The Practice of System and
Network Administration”
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 7
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
There are no “smart people”, only
people that have experienced things
that I haven’t.
“If you want to find a good doctor, ask
someone that gets sick a lot.”
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 8
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
General Principles
Turn Everything Into A Routine
The best systems are “routines” that
become habits.
You don’t have to think about them any
more, they become natural.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 10
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
“Have a system”
Rule 1:
Have a system!
Rule 2:
A good system is better than a bad one.
Rule 3:
Any “system” is better than none (chaos).
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 11
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Therefore if you have no
system…
Steal a system from someone, use it for a
week, then start to personalize it.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 12
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Dance analogy
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 13
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
What “systems” does a SA need?
Task management (“Todo lists”)
– Perfect follow-through
– (never forget a task)
Calendar management (“Date Book”)
– Don’t miss appointments or social activities
Goals (“Goals”)
– Get what you want out of life!
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 14
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Dealing with interruptions
Keeping focused during “project
time”
Effective “project time”
“The SA life is divided between putting
out fires, and building new buildings.”
Demo #1
Dealing with interruptions
Principle: Saying “no”/“not now”
When someone makes a request, they
expect to be heard.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 18
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Demo #2
Saying “no” with compassion
Saying “no” with compassion
“When someone makes a request, they
want to be heard.”
How to say without sounding rude?
– Take the customers needs into account
– “Say with action” (not words) that the
request will be completed
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 20
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
For each request
Record it
Delegate it
Do it
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 21
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
How to pick?
When to record it?
– I’m in the middle of another project
– Not urgent
– Not a “while you wait” request
When to delegate?
– Someone else can do it
– Too urgent to put off
When to do it?
– Emergency -- down system effecting multiple
people
– Requests from my boss
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 22
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
How to delegate:
From http://www.mindtools.com/tmdelegt.html
1. Deciding what to delegate
2. Select capable, willing people
3. Delegate complete jobs
4. Explain why the job is done, and what results are
expected
5. Then let go!
6. Give help and coach when requested
7. Accept only finished work
8. Give credit when a job has been successfully
completed
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 23
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
How to delegate effectively
Three things to explain:
– What you expect the end-result to include
• A specific, measurable result?
• A checklist?
– The resources/authority
– A deadline
Let them suggest a date. If it’s acceptable, say
“Ok, I’ll expect this to be done by [insert date].”
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 24
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tips for recording requests:
Create a “ticket”
Write in your Palm/Dayplanner
Have them create the ticket -- tell them
the words
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 25
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Helpdesk Software
There is no excuse for not using issue-
tracking software. NONE
RT 3.0 is free and is better than
commercial products except for
extremely large sites
If you don’t like RT, there are dozens of
other solutions
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 26
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Helpdesk Software (2)
Without software
– Requests get lost
– Management can’t track progress
– Customers can’t track issues
– Customers can’t refer to a ticket number
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 27
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
RT 3.0
http://www.bestpractical.com/rt/
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 28
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 29
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 30
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 31
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Don’t get sucked into bad
software
Most commercial software is tuned for collecting
software bug reports
– Each report carefully crafted by skilled users with
painstaking detail: a large investment in time for each report
Helpdesks needs quick entry with spritely replies
– Highly interactive, back-and-forth
– Many requests, fast turn-around time
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 32
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Perfect Follow-Though
Goal: Never forget a user's
request
Tom
Limoncelli:
MOVE THIS
AND THE The “Todo List” System
NEXT SLIDE
– How do you remember user requests?
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 34
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Why do “todo lists” fail?
We forget
Scattered sheets of paper
Many lists, half are out of date
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 35
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
How to make “todo lists” work?
A single todo list
That is with you all the time
That is easy to access
Examples:
– A PDA
– A date/time planner
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 36
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Which is better? PDA or Planner
PDA pros: Planner pros:
Integrates with CMS Free-form
Easy to make backups Spontanious
Easy to carry Difficult to lose
PDA cons: Make your own system
Not as spontanious Planner cons:
Many distractions No backups
Inflexible No sync with CMS
Refills every year
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 37
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Getting the most out of a Palm
The PalmOS “Todo” function is very simple.
The techniques in this class are more easily
done with this Palm software:
– DateBook V
– FrankinCovey for Palm
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 38
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Managing Tasks
Sample sheet
One sheet (two sides) per day of the
year
3 columns
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 40
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 41
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Sample
6 items
X -- Done
- -- Moved to next day
No -- decided not to do it, record why
. -- delegated (record “to whom”)
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 42
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Priorities
A -- Must be done today (due date is
today)
B -- Today, lower priority
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 43
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Exercise: Marking Things
“Done”
1 done
1 moved to next day (just didn’t get it
finished)
1 done
1 moved 2 days (“Alice promised it for
Monday”)
2 done
3 remain
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 44
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Leave work with a smile
Clear your “todo” list at the end of the
day by marking & moving.
Leave knowing you’ve managed all
items.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 45
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Calendar Management
Goal: Never miss an
appointment, meeting, or social
event
Calendar Goals
Never miss a meeting or appointment
– 1 place for all calendar info
– Include social events
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 47
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
How I mark calendar days
Top line: B days, scheduled vacations
(for me and others)
Middle: appointments throughout the
day
Bottom line: night activity (“Date with
Chris”, “Board Meeting”, “Laundry”)
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 48
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Day 2: Planning your day
1. Review calendar entries
1. Write each in today’s schedule
2. Enter repeating events
3. Plan your todo items:
1. Mark A and B priorities
2. Write in estimated time for each item
Do A priorities fill in remaining time?
No -- re-prioritize
-- Ask boss for help
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 49
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tip: How do you split your time?
A sysadmin was directed to “split your
time evenly between helpdesk and
projects”. When he planned his day, he
added a “todo item” called “interrupts”
which was always 50% of his
“remaining time”.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 50
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Repeated Tasks
If it has to be done today, do it first.
If you have to do it every day, do it first.
Anecdote:
Changing backup tapes.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 51
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Exercise: Follow the planned day
End up with ___ (8?) things on next page
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 52
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Life Goals
Get what you want out of life!
Life goals:
Goals should be measurable: “Lose 20
pounds”, not “Lose weight”
What do you want to accomplish…
1 month from now?
1 year from now?
5 years from now?
In your lifetime?
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 54
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Exercise: Life goals
Spend 5 minutes writing down your 1m,
1y, 5y, life goals.
Write 1-2 per category
Nobody will be seeing these, feel free to
write the secret goal that you may be
embarrassed to share.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 55
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Actions to achieve goals:
Category: Goal: Actions:
1 Month
1 Year
5 Years
Lifetime
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 56
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Goal-planning is a life-time task
5 minutes isn’t enough
Week-long workshops, weekend
retreats,
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 57
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
New Routine: First of the month
Re-read list of goals (keep copy in
dayplanner)
Sprinkle action items into your schedule
that bring you closer to these goals.
Easy to develop this routine: Do it when
you load the next month of paper into
your dayplanner
PDA: Schedule a recurring event
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 58
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Yearly -- Review goal list
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 59
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Weekly - Review status -- or is
that just too much?
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 60
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 61
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Prioritize based on
customer perception
Prioritizing tasks so that users
think you're a genius
What do customers expect?
1. Some requests should be quick…
– Assigning an IP address
– Reset a password
2. Some requests take a long time…
– Installing a new PC
– Creating a new service
3. SAs will drop everything for major
outages
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 63
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
FIFO Prioritization
A
Task Description Expectation Work B
A Change PW 5 min 10 min
B Create Acct Next day 20 min
C Install PC Next day 4 hours
D Trace Spam 1 hour 10 min
E Install SW 1 hour 30 min
F Debug INN 10 min 20 min C
G IP Address 2 min 5 min
Result:
D
All tasks completed
E
“G” very unhappy
F
G
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 64
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Expectation-based Priority
A
G
B
Task Description Expectation Work
A Change PW 5 min 10 min
D
G IP Address 2 min 5 min E
B Create Acct Next day 20 min
D Trace Spam 1 hour 10 min
E Install SW 1 hour 30 min
C Install PC Next day 4 hours
F Debug INN 10 min 20 min
C
Result:
All tasks completed
Much happiness
F
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 65
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Summary
In both cases:
– All tasks completed
– You did the same amount of work
In second case:
– Customers much happier
You did the same amount of work, but
people were happier with your
performance
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 66
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
A More Realistic Situation
Usually one can not plan entire day
New requests spread over day
We can still use this technique:
– No matter what, permit the interruption to record the request
– Use ‘expectation’ to decide if request is done now or is put
“on hold”.
• Save state, process interrupt, resume, or
• Ask person to send email, or send it yourself
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 67
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Be creative
Pre-allocate your next 2-3 IP addresses
Keep common sysadmin apps running
Automate, automate, automate
Create self-service versions
– Shell scripts that check inputs and call sudo
– CGI scripts that check input and sudo
(Note: script that sudo calls should be paranoid
about the input it receives)
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 68
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Two or more sysadmins
A two-person team can use this
technique to organize their work:
– One person handles interrupts in the AM
– The other handles interrupts in the PM
Larger groups can structure their
organization around this concept:
– Divide day into n even blocks
– Each SA takes interrupts during their block
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 69
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Organizing a Large IT Group
Organize team into “Tier 1” (front line) and “Tier 2”
(back line)
Tier 1
– Initial contact for customers
– Passes long-term or difficult requests to Tier 2
Tier 2
– Handles issues from Tier 1
– Otherwise is project-focused
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 70
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
What about major outages?
Major outages – an outage that affects
10 or more customers
Often hardware related
Customers want a response that is
visible: SAs standing at a server as it
reboots, etc.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 71
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 72
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tip: Packing for a trip:
On that calendar’s day, include todo list
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 73
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Vacation is important
Delaying vacation doesn’t help your
employer.
1 day off to do errands is not a “vacation”
Full week off (9 days) -- no checking email!
– First 3 days are required just to get to a relaxed
state
TODO: Get paragraph from book
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 74
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tip: Schedule fun things too
Cal -- schedule social life
Second calendar only if you have a
classified work-life
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 75
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tip: Movie List
Avoid the “standing around the video store
trying to remember the name of the film”-
syndrome
Keep a list of movies you’d like to see in
your planner
1. Every time you think of a movie you’d like to see,
write it down.
2. Write down movies currently in the theater you’d
don’t think you’ll have time to see
3. When at a video store, rent the first movie on
your list.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 76
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Relaxation
Yoga
Meditation
Massage
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 77
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tip: Eliminate junk “todo” items
Usenet Netnews
Slashdot bboards (but not Slashdot
itself!)
Free periodicals
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 78
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tip: Touch all paper once
File it
Read then toss
Toss without reading
Don’t sort twice
Don’t file “to be read later”
Big things to read: place in stack,
schedule a weekly 1-hour of “reading
time”
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 79
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Better email processing
If you aren’t using “procmail”, you are
working too hard.
Strategy:
Sort each mailing list into a specific folder.
What’s left in your “Inbox” should be
personal email only.
If you haven’t read the folder by the end of
the week, zap it.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 80
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Procmail Sample 1:
Show 2 mailing lists.
Boss/food email to pager
Remaining to $DEFAULT
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 81
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Tool: Manage documents with
Twiki
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 82
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Managingi your boss:
TODO: Review book’s principles
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 83
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
UNIX Automation:
1. Do it once manually from the
command line.
2. Record commands used.
3. Write a /bin/sh (or bash, or ksh) script
that includes the commands that
worked.
4. Keep it simple.
5. Parameterize (use variables instead of
constants) as you evolve the script.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 84
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Advice for automating tasks
Do it manually once
Record steps
Script the steps one step at a time, testing
each step as it is added to the script
(incremental development)
Only add features and “flash” after the basic
automation works
– “The Practice of Programming” by Kernighan and
Pike (1999)
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 85
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Shorter Meetings
Have a goal for the meeting. (or written
agenda for longer meetings)
State the goal + end-time verbally at the
start.
Repeat the goal every time the group
loses focus.
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 86
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Manage phone time
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 87
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Office Feng Shui
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 88
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Clean Desk
You can’t put it away if it doesn’t have a
space.
(so designate spaces)
When in doubt, throw it out. (someone
else will surely have a copy)
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 89
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 90
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
REVIEW OF PRINCIPLES:
Work from a todo list
Start a new list each day.
A & B priorities
X=done, -=moved
Live by your calendar
Record social and work appointments
Start each day:
Record scheduled appointments
A&B priorities
Work the plan
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 91
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 92
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 93
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 94
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 95
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Top 10
1. Be “todo-list oriented”
2. Maintain a single calendar
3. Delegate
4. Prioritize Based on Customer Expectations
5. Manage your boss
6. Funnel requests through RT 3.0
7. Manage the email monster
8. Manage phone time
9. Feng Shui (desk/office tips)
First
10. Daily Thingswww.EverythingSysadmin.com
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 96
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 97
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Summary (pt 1)
DONE; Why typical "time management"
books don't work for sysadmins
DONE; How to delegate tasks
effectively
DONE; How to use RT and other
request tracking tools
DONE; A way to keep from ever
forgetting a user's request
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 99
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Summary (pt 2)
DONE; Why "to do" lists fail and how to
make them work
Managing your boss
Managing email more effectively with
procmail
DONE; Prioritizing tasks so that users
think you're a genius
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 100
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
Summary (pt 3)
Getting more out of your Palm Pilot
Having more time for fun (for people
with a social life)
Tips on automating sysadmin processes
Efficient phone calls: how to avoid major
time wasters
How to leave the office every day with a
smile on your face
Oct-2003 Time Management for SAs 101
www.EverythingSysadmin.com
