explains a few methods to automate a lot with little effort.Epilogue
A few concluding suggestions about what to do with the free time you'll have after applying the techniques in this book.
How to Read This Book
'Is all this really going to help me?'
Absolutely! Amazingly enough, if you read this book, your entire life will be transformed instantly and all of your problems will be fixed. You'll be better looking, too!
'Really?'
No. This book won't fix all your problems instantly. In fact, I hope you've dealt with enough salespeople to know that anyone who promises that a product works instantly and solves all of your problems isn't telling the truth.
'So what
This book will give you a framework for managing your time. It's a system that works for me and others, and it can be adopted to your workstyle. The techniques will replace your old, bad habits with better habits. The truth is that you've spent your entire life developing the bad habits that are with you today, and it will take some time to develop good ones. In fact, psychologists tell us that it takes 21 days of doing a new behavior to develop it into a habit.
'So, I'm 21 days away from....'
Well, for you, it may take longer. Did I ever tell you the story of my first experience with time management?
'No.'
I took a two-day class. For a month afterward, I didn't use a single technique. It just seemed like too much work to change my ways! Then I had a really busy week, with more things to do than I could keep track of. So, I pulled out the leather-bound organizer that I received as part of the class and struggled to remember some of the techniques. Using the workbook from the class, I pieced together what I was supposed to have learned.
'And what happened?'
I got more done in that day than I had in ages, and I was much less stressed about the tasks I put off for later.
Over the next few months, I kept going back to the course book to refresh my memory or pick up new techniques. It was a struggle but eventually the techniques became second nature. More importantly, I found new techniques that are specific to system administration. Soon I was teaching my techniques to coworkers, then I found myself teaching seminars—now it's all here in this book.
'How long before you didn't have to think so hard to do the techniques?'
About a month. About a year. It depended on which technique. I expect that's how people will use this book. You'll read it—ignore half of it—then keep coming back to it for 'new' advice. It took me a few decades to develop my bad habits. It took quite some time to break those habits and develop new ones.
The sooner you get started, the sooner the change will come. Start today.
'Well, that all sounds really good, but with people stopping by my office every five minutes, I'm not going to have time to read this book.'
That's a good point. Let's make a deal: I'll cover dealing with interruptions in the first chapter, and you promise to try every technique at least once.
'It's a deal.'
Audience
This book is for IT workers, system administrators, network administrators, operators, help desk personnel, and the many, many other similar job titles that can be found in the IT industry. It is written for people who are early in their career, but industry veterans will find these techniques to be equally useful. If you don't think you have time to read this book, you need this book.
This book is not for programmers. Beta readers told me that programmers should find this book extremely useful, but I feel that programmers have different issues and therefore deserve their own book. If you're a programmer, buy this book as a gift for the system administrator who supports you. If you happen to read it before it gets gift-wrapped, I won't tell.
