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Ruthless
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Ruthless
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Steve Jones - Editor
Steve Jones - Editor
Posted Wednesday, April 08, 2009 10:07 PM
SSChampion
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 8:26 PM
Points: 23,166,
Visits: 6,925
Comments posted to this topic are about the item
Ruthless
Post #693715
Sebastien Bergeron
Sebastien Bergeron
Posted Wednesday, April 08, 2009 11:50 PM
SSC Eights!
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Tuesday, May 26, 2009 11:12 PM
Points: 961,
Visits: 26
Distractions...
Like your cars and energy updates? I didn't know what to think about the fact that I enjoy reading these editorials until I have moved to the suburb, into a bigger house for my growing family.
Now that I have to give 2 or 3 hours of my day to drive to and from the office downtown and spend 2x more energy to comfort the house, I feel there is more of a distraction in this kind of reading. Even if I do it at the office!
The ideas that I get from reading such columns are mostly good to reorganize my home/work balance and reduce the stress on my professional and family lives. Often, they make me work better.
A daily feed like TechRepublic is more dangerous and we have to be more cautious because a lot of good information comes from there. All good: from the tricks that will make you more productive, to the nicest pictures of a Saturn's moon or the demolition of an iPhone.
When I feel that some information is more prone to leisure, I forward it to a personal email account I have on the web and hope some day I get the time to enjoy it.
And sometime, it happens that at a late time when everyone but me sleeps in the house and the work is done (like right now).
(shhhh... I'm going to put my headphones on and watch those sci-fi trailers before I go to sleep)
Post #693749
billmzz
billmzz
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 2:53 AM
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Last Login: Thursday, April 09, 2009 2:39 AM
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Good and helpful.
"Your wealth lies on where your time sticks".
Post #693813
Grant Fritchey
Grant Fritchey
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 5:22 AM
SSCertifiable
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 9:55 PM
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Thanks to an article published here a few months back, I read a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen. He's pretty ruthless with time management too. It's made a difference for me because I've been overcommitting on time (Scouts... woof) and need to be pretty much like Andy said, ruthless with time management.
I see some value in the social networks, just as a way to keep tabs on friends & colleagues, but I'm spending a lot less time on them now than I did previously.
----------------------------------------------------
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood..." Theodore Roosevelt
The Scary DBA
Author of
SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled
For better & quicker help read:
How to Post Performance Problems
Post #693867
Hans Munkwitz-320841
Hans Munkwitz-320841
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 5:50 AM
Grasshopper
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Thursday, August 06, 2009 9:56 AM
Points: 11,
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Steve
Having been in this business for 40+ years, I can only say "Welcome to the real Life of a busy person".....
As the 'old' saying goes "Life's a B.... and then you die!".
Post #693881
bob.willsie
bob.willsie
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 6:07 AM
Valued Member
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Friday, October 02, 2009 6:43 AM
Points: 57,
Visits: 151
I think the two worst time suckers are Television and Telephones.
Television sucks up my private life, and Telephones were a horrible waste of my business time.
My third worst is giving everyone my two cents worth on forums, or replying to emails that I am CCed on.
I've actually started forcing myself to just shut up. Is that in any of the time management books?
Post #693898
Andy Warren
Andy Warren
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 6:22 AM
SSCertifiable
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Last Login: Thursday, March 11, 2010 10:33 AM
Points: 6,371,
Visits: 950
I've tried to modify my statement to 'some of those tools don't offer ENOUGH value' for me, for right now. Not trying to dissuade anyone from using them or finding their own value in them.
It's definitely useful to try to find ways to boost productivity, and maybe that even applies to being creative, but it's the hardest. I've seen a lot of people (including me at times) working 50 hours to get 40 hours work done, when if they stopped visiting the water cooler or other non-essential task of your choice, they could have easily spent a lot fewer hours at the office. It's human to find distractions more interesting than work, and all too human to find them easier to fall prey to when we're tired, bored, or frustrated.
Plus, now I'm thinking...should I have used a better word than ruthless? One that didn't make me seem....ruthless?!
Andy
SQLShare - Learn One New Thing Each Day
SQLAndy - My Professional Blog
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Post #693909
The Dixie Flatline
The Dixie Flatline
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 6:38 AM
SSCrazy
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 8:12 PM
Points: 2,554,
Visits: 3,173
I actually found ruthless to be a very appropriate term. Every day another thousand potential distractions are created to try to grab our attention and vie for a slice of our life. We are literally bombarded with information to an extent never imagined 30 years ago. If I'm interested in world events, or the economic crisis, or technology, or sports, or SQL, I could browse news sites and blogs all day. You have to decide what is most important in your life and let the rest go.
__________________________________________________
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.
-- Friedrich Schiller
Whenever possible, I prefer to eat the rude.
-- Hannibal Lecter
Post #693925
Grant Fritchey
Grant Fritchey
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 6:50 AM
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Last Login: Today @ 9:55 PM
Points: 7,395,
Visits: 15,220
Andy Warren (4/9/2009)
I've tried to modify my statement to 'some of those tools don't offer ENOUGH value' for me, for right now. Not trying to dissuade anyone from using them or finding their own value in them.
It's definitely useful to try to find ways to boost productivity, and maybe that even applies to being creative, but it's the hardest. I've seen a lot of people (including me at times) working 50 hours to get 40 hours work done, when if they stopped visiting the water cooler or other non-essential task of your choice, they could have easily spent a lot fewer hours at the office. It's human to find distractions more interesting than work, and all too human to find them easier to fall prey to when we're tired, bored, or frustrated.
Plus, now I'm thinking...should I have used a better word than ruthless? One that didn't make me seem....ruthless?!
No, no. I like ruthless. It fits the situation well. And it fits you to a tee, Warden Warren of the Florida Corrections System.
----------------------------------------------------
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood..." Theodore Roosevelt
The Scary DBA
Author of
SQL Server 2008 Query Performance Tuning Distilled
For better & quicker help read:
How to Post Performance Problems
Post #693938
Andy Lennon
Andy Lennon
Posted Thursday, April 09, 2009 7:14 AM
Ten Centuries
Group: General Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 8:06 AM
Points: 1,118,
Visits: 709
I think some of you have a backwards perspective on this (no offense).
I always set aside time for myself everyday, and i'm pretty ruthless about it. Whether it's so i can watch some TV, read a book, go out to dinner, or just stare out a window for a few minutes. I certainly like what i do for a living, but i don't live to fill in the gaps between working hours.
I'm also with Andy as far as the Social networking stuff goes; i know too many people who pour hours into it and get nothing back (personally i prefer to do that with
Rock Band
and the like).
This is coming out sounding harsher than i meant it to, but i'm kinda stuck being blunt. I've been in situations where there was a lot of work to be done in far too short a time, and in those times i give it everything. No lunch, fewer breaks, no talking unless it's about the work. As soon as i leave, however, it becomes my time, and i'll be damned if i let work suck me back in.
Post #693961
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