Time Management for System Administrators Reviews

• managers: buy one for EVERYONE in your department

  
  By AUV3GU2YHY704 on 2005-12-11
  One of my fellow admins sent me the Amazon link to this page, and I promptly sent it to our manager. The next day, a copy arrived. I read half of it in one sitting, and the second half in the next sitting. Then I told our manager to order ten more.
  
  It really is that good. Limoncelli focuses on building good habits designed to take the pain out of chores that everybody hates. He's a big advocate of combining your work and personal priorities, to prevent the former from taking over the latter. To take back your work time is to take back your personal time, too -- something we ALL need to do in light of the unhealthy, self-sacrificial corporate demands running rampant in our culture.
  
  Limoncelli knows that there's no better way to decrease stress than to exert more control over your own schedule, something systems administrators desperately need. This book will make admins AND their bosses much happier. I wish I'd had it earlier in my career.
  
  

• The time management book that a sysadmin would actually read.

  
  By AK90I942AOHIB on 2005-12-04
  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..."
  
  Tom Limoncelli knows this about you. He knows a lot about you. He's encountered, and found solutions for, just about every one of the paradoxes, dilemmas, Catch-22s, and neverending Sisyphean ordeals that comprise the day-to-day challenge of being a professional system administrator. He wrote (with Christine Hogan) The Practice of System and Network Administration, which presents a thorough and practical body of knowledge for IT professionals: it describes all the things you need to do to build and run a manageable infrastructure. Now he's written an equally practical book on how to actually get those things done, and he wrote it in a way that makes it palatable for system administrators -- a famously cynical bunch when it comes to books about personal productivity. And there's a lot to be cynical about...
  
  Here's how "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", by Stephen Covey, begins:
  
  In more than 25 years of working with people in business,
  university, and marriage and family settings, I have come in
  contact with many individuals who have achieved an incredible
  degree of outward success, but have found themselves struggling
  with an inner hunger, a deep need for personal congruency and
  effectiveness and for healthy, growing relationships with other
  people.
  
  Deep need for personal congruency? The only deep need I feel at the moment involves my gag reflex, and not in a good way.
  
  In comparison, here's how Tom begins:
  
  Wait! Before we get started, let's do something to make sure we
  actually finish. I realize that as a system administrator, you
  are flooded with constant interruptions. The phone rings, a
  customer stops by with questions, your email reader beeps with
  the arrival of a new message, and someone on Instant Messenger
  is trying to raise your attention. Heck, I bet someone's
  interrupted you while reading this paragraph. I'm not going to
  cover how to deal with interruptions until the next chapter, and
  I hope you don't take offense, but at this rate, I'm worried you
  won't get that far. To mitigate this problem I'm going to share
  a tip from Chapter 2, which, if you implement, will shield you
  from interruptions between now and when we can deal with the
  subject of interruptions properly.
  
  This book is for system administrators.
  
  Much of the geek community has embraced David Allen's Getting Things Done as a purely pragmatic way to, well, get things done, and Tom's book complements GTD in two ways. First, Tom describes his own personal system in the space of a couple of chapters, for those who aren't interested in drinking the GTD Kool-Aid but still need to start using a system. Second, Time Management for System Administrators is totally system-agnostic -- whether you use a PDA or index cards, just about every chapter of the book will amplify the effectiveness of your existing system. He also tells you how to get into Disneyland and ride all the rides without waiting in line, and how to minimize the time you spend walking around the video store looking for something to rent.
  
  Anyway, I need to cut this short; I'm supposed to be packing for a trip to a weeklong conference, and my girlfriend just called to remind me that we were supposed to see a movie tonight, and -- well, you know.
  
  Incidentally, anyone who runs computers for a living should also own, read, and re-read The Practice of System and Network Administration. Buy it now if you haven't already. Also buy it for your staff, your peers, and your boss. If you don't have time to do that now, add it to your to-do list. You do have a to-do list, don't you?
  
  

• Perfect for SysAdmins

  
  By AS6LLWLYEBAUA on 2006-02-19
  Limoncelli's book is much in the same bent as GTD or Sally McGhee's Take Back Your Life!: Using Microsoft Outlook to Get Organized and Stay Organized: manage your inbox with a smart system, use a calendar, and kill off cruft tasks which block progress.
  
  This book's counter to those systems is his Cycle, a three-point system for handling to-lists and today's schedule, keeping a general calendar, and setting and tracking life goals. There's nothing earth-shattering in his Cycle system, and you may not want to change from any system you're currently using. However, it's a great place to start if you're not currently using any time management tricks. What's unique about Time Management is the focus on things a SysAdmin runs into every day.
  
  Limoncelli shows how to manage a SysAdmin's customers (those *#$%@! users) effectively while maintaining progress on the endless list of varied projects a SysAdmin has to juggle. Limoncelli is particularly good with tips on how to keep customers happy while avoiding misunderstandings.
  
  Limoncelli helps differentiate his work from other time management books by showing how various tools help SysAdmins get through their daily loads. He mentions Best Practical's Request Tracker as an example ticket system several times throughout the book, showing how he manages his workload via RT's various interfaces. He also covers a few shell tricks and even shows how he uses make to help with server management.
  
  Particularly useful to SysAdmins is Limoncelli's common-sense approach to prioritization. It's OK to have some things fail, or not optimize some resources, so long as the tasks or resources in question are bottom feeders. He illustrates this with his backup tape changing schedule. He used to spend a lot of time each morning running around checking tape status on numerous machines throughout his facility in order to save expenses on tapes. He changed his routine, prioritizing servers and only changing tapes on low-priority systems once they'd run out of space. The cost of tapes is far outweighed by the amount of time he's saved.
  
  Limoncelli's writing style is funny and thankfully concise - the book is only 223 pages long, and those 223 are tightly written. There's little, if any cruft anywhere in the book.
  
  Time Management for System Administrators isn't any earth-shattering, ground breaking book, but its focus makes it unique and a great use for SysAdmins. Workers in other domains will find it quite useful as well.
  
  

• Something for everybody

  
  By AK58YF7CPVPG1 on 2005-12-28
  System administrators have a stereotypical reputation for grumpiness and irritability. Some times this misanthropy is a cultivated pose, designed to deter casual or trivial requests that would take time away from more important activities like playing nethack and reading netnews. More often, however, sysadmins are disgruntled simply because they can't seem to make any headway on the dozens of items clogging up their todo lists. If you're an example of the latter case, you may find some help in Time Management for System Administrators, the new book from Thomas Limoncelli (who you may recognize as one of the co-authors of the classic The Practice of System and Network Administration).
  
  This slim book (only 226pp) packs a large amount of helpful information about making better use of your time at work, so that you can make some headway on at least some of those tasks that have piled up around you, while still managing to have a life outside of work. One of Limoncelli's main points is that sysadmins have to develop some way of effectively dealing with the constant stream of interruptions in their life if they're going to accomplish anything. The other point is that they also need a good tracking system to make sure they don't lose track of new, incoming requests in the process of dealing with existing ones. The book continually reinforces these two points, and presents several alternative, complementary ways to accomplish them.
  
  The first three chapters deal with high-level, generic issues: principles of time management, managing interruptions, and developing checklists and routines to help deal with the chaos of day-to-day system administration. The middle third of the book details how to use "the cycle system", Limoncelli's task management plan for sysadmins. Basically, it's a hybrid between Franklin-Covey A-B-C prioritization and day planning and David Allen GTD-style todo lists, with a few sysadmin-specific tweaks thrown in. The final chapters of the book address a grab-bag of issues: task prioritization, stress management, dealing with the flood of email that all admins seem to get, identifying and eliminating the time sinks in your environment, and documenting and automating your work-flow.
  
  In general, I think this is a great book for sysadmins that are looking to begin addressing time management problems. People that have already done some investigation of time management techniques (like the aforementioned Franklin-Covey and GTD systems) may find less value here -- but I still think the book will be interesting, especially the chapters detailing the workings of "the cycle system". Personally, after reading this book, I don't see any reason to move away from my modified GTD system, but I have gone back to using some daily checklists, which are helping me keep on top of my repeating tasks a lot better. I suspect that any working sysadmin will take away at least two or three productivity-enhancing tips from this book.
  
  

• Another Mentor in a Book

  
  By A1ENB8D3VCD06Z on 2005-12-21
  I am largely self-taught and unmentored (only discovered SAGE this year and then they busted it! Thanks, LOPSA for stepping in!). When I started going to Seattle SAGE meetings, I was amazed at how good, how assured, how *correct* a sysadmin could be. And they all pointed me to Tom and Christine's book, _The Practice of System and Network Administration_. It is awesome. This is, too.
  
  I think Benjy's review puts it well: tPoSaNA describes what you have to do to run a proper shop. This book gives you some tools and approaches to manage all of that work without going insane. Part of my disatisfaction with the job I was doing had to do with the barrage of stuff coupled with a sense that no particular thing was ever getting finished. Naturally, my stressed and agitated mind was not conducive to productivity. The book has been a big help the last week.
  
  Tom does address getting more done, by reducing distraction, improving focus, automating tasks, and especially by defending "project time" by concentrating interrupts in the other part of the day. But I think the heart of the book is in managing the workflow. Even if you don't get more done, you'll get more of the most important stuff done. The book discusses approaches for prioratizing and tracking tasks, some of which seem counter-intuitive but are inarguable. For example, you could do three easy things or one hard one. If the cumulative impact of the easy ones is low, the hard one may be the right call, even if it results in fewer items crossed off your list. Look at impact - what a concept! O.k., maybe that's common sense, but it may not be a common approach.
  
  Much of the book is common sense. I think I have had more than a few of the ideas presented. For example, he emphasizes conserving brainpower by reducing the number of things you have to think about. Have routines. Have the same answer for the same situation. I've set up a few routines for particular purposes, but I've not tried to apply this as a general case. Tom takes the common sense notion, articulates it, and that (may) result in me expanding my use of routines. So I have to bow before his superior common sense!
  
  While he does address channelling interrupts and distractions, a lot of what he does helps you get your brain around what remains. I found this very powerful and satisfying. I found payoffs on day one - better focus, less stress, more productivity. It's the difference between swimming and floundering. The heart of the book is "the Cycle" - Tom says to start every working day with a 10 minute planning session: what's on the list, how long will it take, how long do you have. You prioratize, push what doesn't fit to the next day, and tuck in. Interrupts get squeezed in and bump lower stuff to the next day. Lather, rinse, repeat. I see two psychological benefits to the approach: better control- or even the illusion of better control- automatically means less stress, and every day you complete your to-do list. You may not accomplish every task, but you do manage every task. Even if it is only to push it off for another day. That's a powerful bit of trickery when you have experienced what he calls "the Ever-Growing To Do List of Doom."
  
  I won't adopt Tom's approach to email; I do use a huge chunk of disk space, mostly full of 'dead' messages. That's cheap extra brain storage for me, and I think that's in the spirit of his book. Let the email store do my remembering, my paa do my organizing, and leave my brain free for the things that can't be done with other tools.
  
  I appreciate the section on automating/scripting - some specifics there that will pay off for me.
  
  The part of the book that gives me the most trouble so far is in setting (measurable) goals. I can see that a lot of good will come from taking a longer view of my life and career. It's just really hard for me to think strategically. I'll get back to it.
  
  Finally, I was struck by the humane tone of the book. Tom urges us to apply these approaches to actually having a life. Sysadmins blend work and play/home life to a degree most professions don't. So it makes sense for us (maybe for everyone) to be efficient. His approach gives us a place to carve out space and time for personal lives and professional growth. The workplace has gotten harsher in the last 20 years; it's nice that someone is pulling for us.
  
  Thanks, Tom, for another awesome book.
  
  
• Not just for sysadmins
  By A2QT0KPQU671OU on 2006-03-10
  This is an excellent book on time management that should be applicable for anyone, not just systems administrators. It's short, well written and to the point. And it provides useful techniques to maintain a work/life balance that will keep you from going to the nuthouse from today's neverending jobs.
  
  
• Order it now! Great reference for busy sysadmins
  By AXM3Z5OW0KXFU on 2005-12-02
  This book is badly needed to all busy (as usual) system administrators, dealing with customer interrupts while trying to manage and improve IT infrastructures.
  The "cycle system", as Tom Limoncelli calls it, works great! For those who read "Getting things done" from David Allen, you notice a great similarity in concepts, and the truth is: it just works.
  
  If you're not yet convinced to get it, you can watch a video with Tom giving a quite detailed presentation overviewing the book's contents (check his website www.everythingsysadmin.com for details or search Google Video for the book's name). I wish every author would do the same.
  
  Follow Tom's advice and get "into" an old, boring day...
  
  
• Good Management Resource
  By A2TVJ0YDW3QO63 on 2005-12-23
  This book seems really odd to be published by O'Reilly. As time has progressed, O'Reilly has branched out so much from their roots of being a great nuts and bolts coding publisher and this book falls along those lines.
  
  This book is a nice resource for anyone that is a sys admin manager or a manager in general. So much of the time this book seems like a self-help book, and that's very much what it is, but it's a self-help book in using your (and your employee's) time more efficiently. Many of the topics covered in this book seem so basic like using PDAs, marking meetings on calendars religiously and so forth, but the points that are being driven home here are really important for running an efficient IT department and becoming a better manager.
  
  I don't have any major issues with this book, but a lot of the info covered here is pretty much common sense and I didn't get anything "revolutionary" from it so that is what is preventing it from getting 5 stars. If you are a manager in IT or a manager in general I think this is a book worth picking up. If you are just a regular employee that feels they could be working more efficiently/smarter, this is also a nice read and gives lots of practical advice that can be immediately applied.
  
  **** RECOMMENDED
  
  
• Lead a horse to water AND make him drink
  By A1V3U45GLC47Z7 on 2006-04-30
  Managers, you would probably be better served by the GTD system. But for your overworked system administrators getting pulled into 42 things at once, this book is just what the doctor ordered. The most valuable tips include how to:
  
  - minimize interruptions
  - prioritize tasks based on customer perception of how long the task should take
  - help your boss hit her goals since she probably has "big picture" priorities that can improve your own long-term financial gain
  
  If you're a manager familiar with any number of well-regarded time management techniques, this book may seem trivial by comparison. The four instead of five stars is because the author himself seemed to have other things on his mind when writing certain sections, leading to occasional disarray, needless repetition, or ommissions, any of which may bother a time management disciple. Trust, however, that this book presents these concepts in a way that's more acceptable to the typical system administrator's self-perception and way of life.
  
  Call me cynical, but with tips presented this way, in a book from O'Reilly no less, this somewhat more trivial system (called "Cycle" by the author) stands a far greater chance of adoption by your IT guys than systems presented more conventionally. If your IT organization is like most, that's a really good thing.
  
  
• "TIME AFTER TIME!!"
  By A14SRPGP0XBL0G on 2006-06-05
  Are you an IT worker? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Thomas Limoncelli, has done an outstanding job of writing a practical book for IT people who are early in their career, but also for industry veterans who will find these time management techniques to be equally useful.
  
  Limoncelli, begins by introducing the principles that will be used throughout the rest of the book. Then, the author shows you how to deal with an interrupting customer without sounding like a jerk. He continues by showing you how to turn chaos into routine. Next, the author introduces you to his "Cycle System," which is a way to manage your to do list. Then, the author focuses upon the actual day-to-day work of putting The Cycle System into practice, creating your schedule and to do list. Then, he extends The Cycle System to include his calendar. He also shows you how to identify long-term goal, both personal and professional, and how to make sure you achieve them. Next, the author discusses a few different ways to prioritize so that The Cycle System works even better. Then, he shows you how he learned to manage stress. He continues by showing you a few realistic tips for getting control over the flood of email you receive. Next, the author discusses how to eliminate time wasters. Then, he explores ways to document without pain. Finally, the author explains a few methods to automate a lot with little effort.
  
  This is an excellent technique book. More importantly, this book is about you and how to improve your life through better time management.
  
  
  
• Extremely helpful
  By A1KGC64F36FWHG on 2005-12-18
  The ideas presented are extremely helpful in helping sysadmins break things down to easily digestible portions and scheduling how you'll take it all in. Best of all, for those of us that just cannot break away from the screen, this came with a 45-day O'Reilly Books-Online key. After years of shunning electronic books, I found that I actually read much faster in non-print format and I read it in a weekend. Dedicate a weekend to yourself and let this book adjust things in your hectic life.
  
  
• Time Management for Techies who get Interrupted Frequently
  By A2UWLIRQAKZP3M on 2006-07-23
  How many times do you get interrupted from your "main" task in a day? "Time Management for Techies who get Interrupted Frequently" could have been the title of this book. While the real title of this book is "Time Management for System Administrators," it is really useful for any techie who faces interruptions. And that's most of us!
  
  In the preface, the author states "This book is not for programmers. Beta readers told me that programmers should find this book extremely useful, but ... deserve their own book." I agree with the beta readers - developers benefit from this book plenty. We support production applications, have emergency issues and are frequently called on to answer tech questions..
  
  The book introduces readers to traditional time management concepts in case they are unfamiliar with them. Then the author adapts those techniques to work well when your priorities change throughout the day. There are also chapters are reducing stress, e-mail management and automation.
  
  I found the techniques on prioritizing to be much more relevant than the typical time management book. Since the book is not teaching a technology, it was easier to read than the typical white book with an animal on the cover. The quality is high as you would expect.
  
  I read this 200 page book in four days. It was hard to put down! How much would you pay to have a better handle on your time and responsibilities? At $25, this book pays for itself in no time!
  
  
• Valuable Guide for System Administrators
  By A3MAN5CBRX1KEV on 2008-02-22
  Tom Limoncelli is a well-known system administrator, author and orator. He speaks at conferences around the globe on issues ranging from firewall security to time management. He has also published papers at conferences such as the Usenix LISA on a wide variety of topics including innovative firewall techniques, coordinating massive network changes, models for improving customer support, and the security issues related to firing your system administrator.
  
  I like the book "Time Management for System Administrators" because it is written BY system administrator FOR system administrators.
  
  The book covers not only the general time management principles, but also valuable advices for system administrators: how to make use of automation, how to cope with multiple customers, bosses and tasks, and so on.
  
  In addition to this book, I can recommend the other great titles that I liked much: "Never Check E-Mail In the Morning" by Julie Morgenstern, "Getting Things Done" by David Allen and "Time Drive" by Gleb Arkhangelsky.
  
  
  
• Couldn't Put it Down
  By AXSD0W7WO3BOP on 2006-02-21
  I would have never expected to enjoy a book on time management. I'm almost finished with it and I most certainly will wait a few weeks and read it again. There are some really great tips to help manage yourself. As someone with no techs above me, I set my own job descriptions and boundaries. This book has really helped with not only my organization but also my overall work image.
  
  
• Quickly to the point and chock full of helpful practices
  By A16OFILA0KL0JN on 2006-03-21
  Limoncelli knows the life of a sysadmin and it shows in his no nonsense approach to helping us out with our lives. From practical techniques to quaint semi-mythical annecdotes the entire book seems to bring the insurmountable problem of Time Management down into the realm of quickly grasped and dealt with topics. Limoncelli doesn't make promises about a 10 minute fix, but in fact does quiet the opposite and is frank about the fact that you may spend months or years mastering these techniques. The book is filled with cut to the chase information and tactics for dealing with the Time Management problems that surround most sysadmins. Although not all of the advice is universally applicable you can always see where it would be useful to someone in a different field or job. In all a solid book well worth the short time it will take to read it.
  
  
• I'm the CEO of a tech business
  By A123G7QSZBH105 on 2007-05-25
  and I bought a copy for each of my employees. Some balked that they didn't have time to read it. I made them a bet that reading it would take them about 4 hours, and it would save them AT LEAST 4 hours a week, every week. None have come to collect :)
  
  This book has invaluable tips, tricks and hints, for sys admins, or anyone of a geek flavor, or just anyone comfortable using technology to improve their lives. I learned so much to streamline so many of the things I do. This book changed my life, in a very good way.
  
  
• Great Book for Any Tech Worker
  By A1GYYUVPKKQEYA on 2008-01-08
  As a DBA, I found this book extremely useful. It's easy to read and has practical advice that works. I was a bit demotivated at work and this book helped me spring back into action.
  
  Some of his quotes I try to remember daily; one of my favorites is "perfection is a real time waster" because it's so true!
  
  Making to-do lists and setting goals is an integral part of time management and this book shows you how to do it properly. A+!
  
  
• This book helped me get my life back
  By A1YHGW3QOUTBP1 on 2008-03-04
  I was skeptical at first, but I followed the advice in this book, and BOY HAS IT MADE A DIFFERENCE!
  
  I picked up this book when it first came out, as I was already a fan of The Practice of System and Network Administration.
  
  It's been three years, and I'm no longer frazzled. Users no longer call me angrily wondering why I forgot to do such-and-such. I (hardly ever) forget to renew service agreements and run regular maintenance.
  
  I cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you feel like there aren't enough hours in the day, if you work late, if you feel like your users are beating down your door.
  
  Another thing about the system described in the book is its reliance on a paper-based organizer. I had tried and failed several times to use electronic methods. I'm a sysadmin! I should be able to use computers for everything! Being given a sort of permission to use paper for what it is good for helped me out a lot.
  
  
• I never have time...
  By A3S4PD13WTBO84 on 2006-01-14
  When I noticed this book I was a bit reluctant since books that claim to teach me how to live my life never appealed to me.
  The decision to pick it up was taken since I was curious about the somewhat unusual angle this book takes. The book provides time management techniques for system administrators.
  System administrators (and I am guessing you are one or trying to understand one if you are reading this) have no time,ever.
  They are either busy with problems at work (24 hours 7 days a week) or busy with learning some new technology or even worse-helping friends and family with absorbing technology.
  So I was curious, is there a way for a system administrator to become less busy?
  
  After reading the book I came to the conclusion that a system administrator may be able to better manage his time using the principles outlined in this book. The principles provided in the book are not vague and general; they can be quickly applied to real situations a system administrator may encounter.
  
  When reading this book I had the feeling of Deja-Vu several times, I was using some of the techniques described in the book, before reading the book, yet the book managed to provide the final touches needed to perfect the techniques.
  
  I have found this book to provide a great perspective on the system administrator's ability to take control of a seemingly chaotic life.
  
  
  
• Agree with the other reviews.... this book is a must!!!
  By A280E03GK712L3 on 2006-02-20
  If you are a sysadmin or netadmin this book is a MUST. Great book. Short and too the point. Won't go into details about the review because the other reviews have already taken care of that. What are you waiting for. Buy this book, get control of your life schedule!
  
  
• Motivating and doable!
  By A2CCDX5G208V4X on 2006-03-01
  I was that sysadmin sitting under a pile of post-it notes and on the verge of developing an ulcer from stress created by lack of control. This book really helped me take control of my life and I've become magnitudes happier and more productive because of it. In my experience, it does exactly what a self-help book is designed to do: help. Admittedly, I have not read any other time management books, but because of my profession, this one really spoke to me. Thomas Limoncelli is also a great person to learn from because he's been there in the trenches and knows what works. If you find yourself being buried under a mountain of requests and projects, please do yourself a favor and pick up this book.
  
  
• Worth time and money
  By AAZVCOI6KX664 on 2006-03-14
  In brief,Its my best money and time investment in the last year.
  I've got the ROI on the next day.I'd recommend to everyone who feels that doesn't have enough time to complete all tasks.
  
  
• Inspiring!
  By A1VM8EA0F54FDC on 2006-03-25
  A holistic technical manual for the new and seasoned systems/network admin who wants to do more than constantly put out fires; work long hours; and feel misunderstood by management. Along with the many easy to implement time management technigues that the Author covers, he stresses developing positive communication channels with customers and management to build a more efficient and collaborative work experience for all. You might find yourself re-reading some of the book again just to let this important material sink-in so bad routines can be ellimated from your everday work regime. This book is easy to read and apply to one's work and personal lifestyle, and provides an uplifting discourse on how to better use your time.
  
  
• How to retain control over time during project management tasks
  By A14OJS0VWMOSWO on 2006-05-02
  Thomas A. Limoncelli's Time Management For System Administrators tells how to retain control over time during project management asks, and comes from real examples taken from the author's own career in desktop support and server management. From handling interruptions and keeping a calendar to developing routines for frequent issues, Time Management For System Administrators should reach the entire computer industry with solutions applicable to a range of issues.
  
  
• Read this book, get your life back.
  By AP4DLOPVDLFLQ on 2006-09-12
  I was tired of working 60 hrs/wk and NOT getting caught up. I manage 14 locations with around 500 users. I was 2 years behind on some projects. This book was a tremendous help.
  
  
• Tom explains WHY, and leads you towards HOW!
  By A1NR9J3BB1FYGP on 2007-05-27
  I attended an eponymous presentation given by the author. Tom is a good presenter and a good writer and the sort of smart-but-easy-going guy you would want to work with. The whole idea of "time management" is especially important for systems administrators, who tend to juggle a lot of things at once while also handling user interruptions, and reporting to diffuse layers of management.
  
  Tom does an excellent job of describing the problems of getting things done and managing customer expectations effectively, and explains various processes that one can adopt to improve on that. He emphasizes that it is a long-term, bit-by-bit process where you give different self-management methodologies a shot, and then as you find things that work, you expand the domain of your self-time-management to be more effective not merely in the field of Systems Administration, but life-in-general.
  
  I myself am still experimenting with various daily regimens and have yet to find a system that works really well for me . . . but if Tom hadn't gotten into my head the importance of time management, I would still be spinning my wheels in ignorance as to how one might go about being more effective.
  
  I dug this book so much that I gave it as a "starting day" gift when we hired our second SysAdmin. Tom was gracious enough to sign that copy--thanks, Tom!
  
  -danny
  
  
• How to please everybody
  By AU1D9YBMRX8QN on 2006-01-26
  This book has helped me to please everyone. Now I don't loose or forget appointments, commitments, or anything else for that matter. This book is a must-have for any system administrator trying to manage their daily lives. Plus, it's a page turner. I finished this book in just under a week (reading it almost exclusively at work), while implementing almost all of the practices mentioned.
  
  
• Feel-good-book
  By A35497HPKYAEU8 on 2006-03-20
  I have finished this book at about 70% now, must say that I like it! Great, easy writing style, lots of small techniques to learn from.
  
  I'll help you out: If you think you need this book, you are right!
  
  
• brilliant
  By A2ZPZJWYO0MIMN on 2006-04-12
  I loved this book, even though I'm not a system admin as such, but I do work in a busy IT department. I've tried various time management schemes recently, such as David Allen's 'Getting Things Done' amongst others, and found them all to be a little abstract. I can sort of see what they're getting at, but when it comes to putting them into practice, the systems kind of fall apart on me.
  
  However, Thomas Limoncelli's book is different. It's *practical*. And he uses real-life examples, which actually work!
  
  Written in a friendly, conversational style, the book covers the high-level concepts such as managing interruptions, checklists and the overall principles of time management. That done, he moves onto his Cycle system then how to prioritise tasks effectively, how to deal with stress and documenting your processes and workflows. The book finishes off with some system admin-specific tips on how to automate processes.
  
  I can't recommend this book enough. I've been pushing it on my work colleagues, and can already see a difference in how I can manage mine and my team's workloads. Highly recommended.
  
  
• One of the best books I have ever read of all times
  By A2S5LINRVI8EDH on 2007-01-06
  This book is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I strongly feel that this book should be made the de facto reference for every system administrator and related job profile professional. This book now forms the template for my daily work schedule. It has definitely improved my efficiency at work and has given me a different outlook on life in general.
  
  

• Practice of System and Network Administration, The (2nd Edition)
• Network Warrior
• Backup & Recovery: Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open Systems
• Mind Performance Hacks: Tips & Tools for Overclocking Your Brain
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity