LonnieOlson

While working as a SysAdmin (System Administrator) there are many tasks of different types. Any good sysadmin knows that there is always room for improvement. Some actually go so far as to script and/or automate everything. These types often end up spending weeks or months developing automation systems while the rest of their duties suffer as do their users.

I once saw an article describing this dilemma. Basically all tasks can be broken into categories based on the difficulty of the task and the frequency of the task. Steps to reduce the time and effort to do these tasks should be prioritized by category. Tasks that are easy to do, that you do frequently, should have shortcuts applied when possible. An example might be using your shell’s alias feature. Tasks that are easy, that you do rarely, don’t bother over complicating it yet. Hard stuff that you do frequently should be automated as much as possible. Perhaps you could try your hand at Shell or Perl scripting. Those rare tasks that take some time on your part should be clearly documented to take out the guess work, perhaps even include copy/paste’able code fragments as well.

I highly suggest these two books by Thomas Limoncelli. The Practice of System and Network Administration, and Time Management for System Administrators. The first book covers a lot of general theory of system administration, not necessarily platform specific but there is lost of unix information. The second book offers excellent ideas and tips on managing your time better, reducing distractions, and getting rid random people interrupting you to ask why their email is slow.