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Tom Limoncelli, Thomas Limoncelli: Time management for system administrators (2006, O'Reilly)

Started chapter 2. So far seems very relatable. Even though I haven't been a sysadmin since my first co-op term, my previous job had a lot of the same sort of issues that this chapter talks about. We had issues with more work coming in during the week than what we'd initially planned to finish for the week.

It does point out that I need to make some changes to my desktop so that I can reduce the number of distractions during my day.

replied to Tom's status

@ryuslash

This is good. I should respond to this situation.

When you're physically at work, this can be challenging. I think when you're working from home, there are things you can do other than simply removing distractions, which is to use associations to create "work time".

For example, having a reminder of what you're working on always visible, and having certain sounds or music that indicates work/focus time, and a 15 minute timer to ensure you're not distracted.

replied to Serge from Babka's status

@serge@babka.social Hmm, yes, that true. Working in an office already provides a bit of that association just for being in an office.

The visible reminder of what I'm working on is intriguing. That's something I've been thinking about having for a while. I haven't really been able to come up with a good idea for this. Every idea I come up with is either not compatible with my current workflow, or not visually distinct enough (meaning it'll just get lost again).

One constant reminder that's been suggested by something else is the Pomodoro Timer. One of the points it makes in the book is that you need to have something ticking to remind you that you're doing something specifically. This helps sometimes, but the mind is good at ignoring things it deems unimportant (like constant ticking). I'm easily distracted from the thing that's supposed to prevent distractions :)