Time to Think
Most IT Managers don’t have time to go to the bathroom and I am about to tell them that they need to take some more time to think. So please bear with me for a few paragraphs.
Recently, I wrote several posts about time management and I suggested IT Managers consider a number of approaches to restructure how they spend their time.
Once in awhile I like to remind my team at Remote DBA Experts of the importance of taking time to think. I send them an email with the words “stop” — “look” — “listen” as the subject line and then I give them a few questions to ponder in the body of the email.
Over the last ten years or so, I have found that there is nothing more valuable than taking time to think. To help me accomplish this, I have set up two routines designed to force me to THINK. Weekly I have what I call my “PowerWeek” time and then every day I have what I call my “PowerHour”.
During the PowerWeek timeframe I “STOP” to evaluate where I am relative to my personal and business goals. The stop metaphor is powerful because it means that I get away from all of the day-to-day distractions that sometimes clutter my mind. Once I have a clear mind, it becomes easier to elevate my thoughts to higher value/leverage levels. Once I stop and focus on the more important matters, I can “LOOK” at things better and see where I am relative to where I want to be. Also, by freeing my mental bandwidth from the “clutter” I can “LISTEN” to things and get some messages people may have given me when I was too busy to pay them attention.
Time to think is high leverage. Paradoxically, by taking time to think, you actually open time for other things. By taking time to think, we can determine if we are using our time on the right and most important things.
In my experience, time to think needs to become a routine. This is easier to accomplish than you think. Initially, you may need to force yourself to set a standard time and find a great place to think. It also helps to set a “thinking agenda” so you make time to think valuable.
In my PowerDay time slot, I take time to make sure that my weekly plan that I developed during the PowerWeek routine does not get off schedule due to day-to-day distractions.
I hope this gives you a good sense of the power of taking time to think.
The BEST is Yet to Come!
Epi Torres, CEO
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Yes Chris well spoken, lately it seems think time is under valued and creates a scatter bug environment where people only see to the end of their nose.
I have actually heard DBA’s query what should I be doing? If they are a thinking DBA they will plan their tasks such as installs well and then be thinking about their biggest tables. Is all that data necessary for those tables? How will I plan future storage based on these facts this year and five years from now. This all requires quality think time!
Kevin – DBA TN
Good comment Kevin. My boss, Epi Torres, wrote this blog for us. But I agree totally. If any technician, especially DBAs, don’t have time to think, how will they ever be proactive? We need time to think, plan and implement problem prevention strategies and database ecosystem (database, O/S, application) improvements.
Spending time thinking separates a proactive DBA from a reactive firefighter.