Time

"Tempus rerum imperator" - Time, Commander of all things.

Time has always been a factor when it comes to IT. The Active Directory does not work well without synchronized time. Security mechanisms such as Kerberos, collapses without the factor of time. The RTO and RPO of data recovery are dependent on time and yet, we see administrators and operations constantly asking for more time.

This blog breaks away from the normal technical entries that I usually write. I am talking about time management in IT.

Yes, everything happens at a breakneck speed in IT. And yet, I find that most people in IT waste a lot of time focusing on the unimportant and yet urgent things. I am talking about "fighting fires" and operating in reactive mode. Yes, we fight fires all the time but at the root of things, I believe these "fires" can be prevented with good time management. In fact, we should take a step backwards and look at ourselves in the eyes of a third person and work on personal management.

Stephen Covey's book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" mentioned the 4 quadrants with the most important being Quadrant II (Important, Not Urgent). That is why I strong recommend IT folks to read the book.

Here are a few things I believe will be helpful to IT folks

1. Know your roles
2. Set your goals
3. Prioritize your goals
4. Align your roles with your goals
5. Go and execute them diligently and in a steadfast manner.

Then start disciplining yourself and do it repetitively until you cultivate it as your habits. You will realize that you can achieve more (with more personal satisfaction) and put your career path in hyperspeed.

The gist of this blog is do the important things. Focus on the important things that are proactive, prioritized and with an end in mind. Only then will IT folks be able to have time to work on value-add tasks that are congruent with personal goals. And believe me, you can prevent plenty of reactive fire fighting this way. Think about it.