Just a place to braindump my thoughts, talk about IT and other random stuff.
The work just keeps on coming and the heap only seems to get bigger no matter how hard you work or how much hours you make a day (10 to 12 hours are certainly no exception) the work never seems to come to an end. At the end of the week you drop on the couch with a cold beer and some cheap movie and think 'tomorrow is another day to get done what I did not finish this week'. On your free day you VPN in to the corporate network and start doing the maintenance stuff that should have been done already.
The scenario sketched above is certainly no exception in the life of an IT professional and I know that many of us make long days and weeks to make sure the pile of work stays at an acceptable level. Even more worrying is the fact that managers and end users seem to expect us to work this long hours and take them for granted. Below are some tips and guidelines to schedule your work better, they do not necessarily shorten your workday but they keep you organized and focused and make you feel more relaxed during the week.
Start making a task list a day before going to work, make a note of the most important tasks you want to get done for that day. You can do this the evening before going to work or take 20 minutes before going home from work on a normal work day. You can also make a list for Monday on Sunday evening.
Schedule your most important work at the beginning of the day when you are still fresh and sharp and work trough your list of tasks from most important to less important. Also make sure to not over schedule. Keep some time in between tasks to relax or catch up on small stuff that comes to your desk during the day.
Like many other IT pros there was a time I did not eat in the morning, how tempting it might be do not do it! Eat something before you go to work or leave home earlier and eat something when you arrive at work. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, it helps wake you up and keeps you sharp during the day.
This is one of the most important things in getting work done. Stop checking your email every 15 minutes, if it is really important the right people can get a hold of you one way or another to inform you that one of your precious servers is burning down to the ground.
It is much more effective to handle email in batches than answer 1 or 2 email every 15 minutes. Set up a schedule for checking your email 3 times a day, once in the morning, just before lunch and just before the end of the day. You'll be surprised how much time you win during a work week if you do this.
Even if you do not eat anything during lunch make sure to use the time for a little break. Just 20 minutes of personal time can keep your head clear and focused the rest of the day. If you constantly get disturbed by colleagues that also have lunch and walk around the office go out of the building and take a walk, or grab a cup of your favorite coffee at Starbucks.
Meetings are dull and boring and planning them in the morning can keep you in that dull state the rest of the day influencing your performance. Also at the end of a day people tend to want to go home usually resulting in shorter and more to the point meetings. That is what we IT people like right?
However tempting it might be and however good you might be at it try to avoid it! Multitasking is nice but getting your job done is even better! Stay focused on one task at a time and finish the task before beginning another one. If you get disturbed a lot during work by colleagues let them know you are busy and ask them to come back later or send you an email with their problem or request. If you have a phone that supports it you can turn off the ringtone and set a .do not disturb, busy. message on your display.
Keep your day off your day off, do not do any work during your day off if you do not really have to. Just do something to relax, go to the beach, get a cup of coffee and sandwich at your favorite coffee shop or drink a beer with some friends. Try not to think about your workload too much. People need rest and working at home on your free day is not the best way to get it. It is much better to start fresh and organized the next day fully rested than tired of another day of work at home.
This are just some tips that might help you during your work day. Try them sometime and let me know if they worked for you!
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Comments (2)
Well the morning meal is one of the most important meals of the day, you'll be 100% more fresh after a good meal in the morning.
"Stop checking your email every 15 minutes"
Haha know this one too well.
Can agree with most of it :P
"Stop checking your email every 15 minutes"
It is actually unbelievable how many people I know that actually do this. It is such a waste of time really.