Summary

Here are the top ideas in this chapter:

• Time is one of the two key ways an IT professional is judged. How quickly can you accomplish something? Is it on time? With the second key factor: how well have you done it? These two factors may sometimes be at cross purposes which means you don't want speed to have a negatively impact on quality.

• Time management is the application of certain principles and strategies that will help you to get more done in less time and with less stress. As an IT person, you may be more inclined to want to find technical solutions to your time challenges but you will still benefit from an understanding and application of more general time management principles such as prioritizing, writing things down to gain mastery over what you have to do including using a to-do list, the value of delegating, and how better communication and improved relationships aid in our productivity.

• There are some characteristics of those who are in the IT field that are unique to that field such as the projects that have become known as the ones with intense pressure and too short deadlines for software developers labeled as the death march. But there are other time challenges, such as goal setting, prioritizing, eliminating time wasters, better e-mail management, and dealing effectively with stress, which are universal whether you're a banker, a lawyer, a writer, or a laborer. The key is to know yourself well and to know what your particular job in the IT world demands of you so you can adapt and adopt in the most efficient way.