I need to get organised, any tips?

[reggiep]

I really am finding that I cannot get organised.

As a network manager I'm sure I should be but I'm not.

I have a paper diary and use the schools email system, web based, and we have a helpdesk.

I still cannot seem to keep myself organised and 2wondered if anyone out ther had any tips on how they do it

 

I know I am being a bit vague but that's because I can't even organise my posts properly!

[Pete10141748]

Is your unorganisation hindering your work?

 

I've found that a great deal of the "organising" we did to start with has worn out over the last 12 months, to the point where we have folders for all kinds of stuff we don't do anymore.

 

We've currently got (physical, paper-holding) folders for;

 

Letters sent and recieved

Printing logs

Orders placed by us

FITS folders

ICT Mark folder

Helpdesk weekly printout folder

One personal folder each for myself and the techie with school policies signed etc.

Our ICT policies folder

Licenses (software) folder

Hardware and Software audit folders

 

I think there's more, but that's what gets used most and it does help keep you organised, so long as you stick to using them, which can be the hard bit!

 

Day to day, I use my paper diary, a virtual post-it note on my screen, my PDA for alarmed important events, the rest I just keep in my head.

[stratisphere]

Hmm, I read that as aroused.

 

Ahem, anyway. Personally i'm a very ad-hoc kinda person... which sucks as i'd like to be more organised. I find the best way for me (when I can do it) is to have some form of electronic diary/calandar/todolist etc on me. E.g. I used to have a WM5 smartphone which linked in with my PC etc, it was great and then I went to the Nokia n95 8GB which has the same kinda thing... but seems a bit more clunky.

 

If your talking about more work stuff, I find the biggest problem is when staff catch me mid-job or when I'm going somewhere with the classic "Could you just quickly" or "i know your busy..."... I always forget jobs like that. Just try and force them to use any issue logging systems you have in place. I always put it like "Yeh sure I can, can you make sure you do a issue form tho, just incase I forget as I'm pretty busy".

 

I know that aint much help. Sorry!

[reggiep]

I do need to get some folders, I guess, to put all my paperwork in, instead of dumping it all in one box!

 

As for phones, my contract is just about up on my brick so I am looking at a G1 as I do use gmail and it's other bits 'n' pieces.

[WithoutMotive]

I use Outlook for work which reminds me when I need to do things.

That is synchronised with my Google Calendar so that I can get organised wherever I am.

As well as that, my personal calendar on Google Calendar is set up to send me SMS messages whenever an appointment is near.

 

It's all kept me ridiculously organised and it's great

[gaz350]

last 15 mins of every day i tend to debrief with Danny(my techi) to see how he got on with the days jobs, we both carry old school clipboards with printouts of our tickets on, Normally we spend this time adjusting the next days work load.

 

Definatly helps us keep organised and on task as we rarely have to come back to our pc's after doing a ticket. we update and close tickets on mass when we return.

[russdev]

last 15 mins of every day i tend to debrief with Danny(my techi) to see how he got on with the days jobs, we both carry old school clipboards with printouts of our tickets on, Normally we spend this time adjusting the next days work load.

 

Definatly helps us keep organised and on task as we rarely have to come back to our pc's after doing a ticket. we update and close tickets on mass when we return.

 

I would recommend few books for you first is getting things done by David Allen ([ame=http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280]Amazon.com: Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: David Allen: Books[/ame]). Second is Time Managment for system administrators ([ame=http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596007836/]Time Management for System Administrators | O'Reilly Media[/ame])

 

There is whole web culture around GTD with whole websites dedicated to it...

 

Russ

[sidewinder]

Im possibly the most unorganised person in the world so probably shouldnt even be here

 

thankfully, somehow my memory keeps up so I do remember to do most things but its not the easiest way of working. But its just me! And thats how I work

 

Our helpdesk helps a lot, though I currently have around 23 problems open in various states so all it does it clear the mass of notes off my desk

 

My one bit of organisation is folders to put paperwork of different types into folders

[WithoutMotive]

As well as what I posted before, I'm also subscribed to the Time Management Master RSS feed.

It gives daily hints and tips on how you can keep your day organised and stress free. Some are useless but most are really helpful.

[DSapseid]

I myself used to be unorganised and a messy f**k as my old NM used to put it! He did however have ocd and was constantly tidying/cleaning so i can see how it annoyed him. When he left he told that i need to be more organised and put stuff away when i was finished with it otherwise i would be in a right state. All i can is that he was right after a week my desk looked like mount everest full of paperwork/catalogues/harddrives/toners etc.

 

Since then i make a consious effort to be neat, tidy and organised. I now have an outlook calendar, paper diary and 3 whiteboards for what needs to be done/meetings etc.

 

I also have seperate files for purchase orders, invoices, licences etc i have even put the little coloured dividers in them and have split it by companies! I have a little intray thing next to me on my desk along with the trusted postit notes.

 

Recently i even managed to get a set of draws from a classroom that were being binned and spent the afternoon labeling them with what i was going to put in them!

 

All you need to do is find what works for you and stick to it. I hate filling with a passion but i make a point of doing it every friday afternoon as its quite an easy task to before the weekend, i also clean my desk and hover the office at the same time.

[Pete10141748]

and hover the office at the same time

 

Wow, making the whole office levitate is quite a trick!

Are you secretly David Copperfield?

 

[DSapseid]

Wow, making the whole office levitate is quite a trick!

Are you secretly David Copperfield?

 

 

Yep i get out my magicians hat and cape and make all the furniture hover whilst i hoover the office!

[Butuz]

I use Outlook for work which reminds me when I need to do things.

That is synchronised with my Google Calendar so that I can get organised wherever I am.

As well as that, my personal calendar on Google Calendar is set up to send me SMS messages whenever an appointment is near.

 

It's all kept me ridiculously organised and it's great

 

Ooh google calendar sounds an intersting idea.

 

Currently I use Outlook on Exchange to organise diary/calendar etc, linked into a bog standard PDA which i keep on me whilst in school. Unfortunatly this is the corporate email system and I can not access it via web/from home.

 

My tech does the same except without the PDA.

 

I will have to look into how google calendar can help.

 

One thing I am working on (very slowly when i get 5 mins) is setting up a Microsoft Sharepoint for my ICT Support Department - this will have a helpdesk, asset database, and shared calendars/meetings/forums etc. Hopefully when i finally get this fully set up me and my tech can use this, and this only in order to keep us really organised.

[psydii]

Second vote for Time Management for System Administrators.

 

Most the advice already mentioned in this thread is echoed in Thomas Limoncelli's book. Personally speaking one of the most useful tips was "to manage your social life with the same tools you use for your work life" (as WithoutMotive does by syncing Outlook to google calendar)

 

Why? well to offer a quick quote from the book..

 

"[other time management books] don't speak to 'us' They speak to some generic person you and I can't relate to... ... My home life looks a lot like my work life- you should see the killer server I've set up at home. Once I've finished tweaking it, I'm going to set up the same thing at work very few occupations are like that... ...What I'm trying to say is system administration is not a job. It's a lifestyle. We need a time management book that speaks to our lifestyle, in our own works and solve our problems."

 

and it really does. Go and buy it now. I've actually given copies to friends who were well chuffed with it.

 

Oh and BUY hardcopy, don't get it from safari bookshelf. This is one of those things (like your Disaster Recovery Plan) that needs to be available no matter what.

[somabc]

When I first had to get organised I used Google Calendar on its own, but I quickly moved on to exchange/outlook/windows smart phone. The smart phone is cruical if you are on the move as you can still see your schedule and make changes if necessary. You could also use an iphone or blackberry if you prefer (I have moved on to the iphone for ease of use).

 

If you can make use of the calendar and tasks/notifications you should never forget another meeting. Sharepoint is useful for group calendering but you can use exchange for this as well.

 

Time Management for System Administrators is a good book, go and buy it!

[contink]

I've found recently that the best approach for my school work has been the helpdesk...

 

It's reduced the stress levels in terms of people seeing me get things done and provides me with a way to record what has and hasn't been done too so if something gets put on hold or can't be resolved immediately (missing parts, etc..) then I can pop a note in and leave the ticket open.

 

Of course that doesn't help with stuff that isn't directly attributable or things that affect more than one "job" but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

[reggiep]

Right I'm off to look on amazon!

 

Thanks again for all the advice.

[contink]

Thanks for the book tips... Amazon just got my order... They'll probably be wondering what happened with the sudden jump