Good habits

What technology- or work-related good habits did you pick up recently?

We could share our little self-improvements here to motivate each other and bounce ideas off of others. I know quite a few tidbits that I picked up over years were read on forums or seen at presentations and often they were things I didn't think about beforehand...

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ChooseLife

I'll start it off:

Finally got my act together and collected my sysadmin scripts into a single GitHub repository...
Started using dig instead of nslookup
Started using screen

W Stewart

I'd have to say writing things down on paper. I go into this mentality that I could always just put everything in a text file on my computer and writing pretty much became a lost art but since starting my current job I have been writing things down on paper a lot more.

Also I've been reading up on things I come across that I'm unfamiliar with lately and just gaining a better understanding of how things work in general, even if it may be slightly outside of my scope of support. Not that I'll support it but I just want to know for my own knowledge.

N2IT

Honestly learning moderation has been the biggest help to me. Learning to leave work at work and enjoy life. I remember so much more when I get back to work and deliver at a higher level.

This has been my experience not saying all should follow but it has helped me nonetheless.

jmritenour

Making judicious use of Evernote. Any new command syntax/switches I learn, I create a note for it, so I can easily reference it on any computer I work at, or my phone if I'm in a pinch.

Roguetadhg

When people start asking a question or asks for advice without a ticket I imagine a game of tetris in my head until they stop asking. Then I walk off. Gotta be careful about not getting too deep in the mental tetris, tend to stand around for no reason when trying to fit a long block into a small hole.

paul78

My list of bad habits seem to be longer than my list of good habits. I'm looking forward to seeing what others share. I tend not to do anything consistently enough to be called a habit. The good ideas aren't always the tough part, it's making it habit that's the challenge.

So far - my only habit these days is reading TE. In an odd way, reading about the success of others no matter how big or small is very inspirational to me. I most especially enjoy hearing when someone gets their first job or breaks into IT. It reminds me that it's all about forward progress and keeps me grounded to not be complacent.

UnixGuy

I keep a bottle of water with me at the office, and manage to drink 1 liter. I also bring an apple with me everyday to work

NotHackingYou

Collected and categorized all my notes into oneNote and installed oneNote on my phone so they sync. Now all my C# examples, sysadmin stuff and SQL examples/notes are easy to find.

Registered several of the SQL servers I use daily so new queries appear with a red title bar if on production and green if on test.

ChooseLife

Good stuff... Interesting to see note-keeping coming up frequently. Gives something to think about.

UnixGuy wrote: »

I also bring an apple with me everyday to work

Ah, great one. I do it every now and then, but wish to make it a consistent habit one day. Thanks for the reminder

CarlSaiyed wrote: »

Registered several of the SQL servers I use daily so new queries appear with a red title bar if on production and green if on test.

I like this

ChooseLife

Roguetadhg wrote: »

...I imagine a game of tetris in my head...

Whoa, that totally works! Fascinating

P.S. http://xkcd.com/888/

ChooseLife

N2IT wrote: »

Learning to leave work at work and enjoy life.

That one takes time to learn and master, doesn't it......

NotHackingYou

Also making more use of my calendar in Outlook to book myself out for time to concentrate on different issues.

UnixGuy

N2IT wrote: »

.Learning to leave work at work and enjoy life..

ChooseLife wrote: »

That one takes time to learn and master, doesn't it......

Best answer! It's indeed difficult...

veritas_libertas

I started the Paleo diet and doing push-ups every morning. This has made a noticeable improvement in my health. It's also dramatically improved my memory and thought clarity.

I'm very excited about this.

Roguetadhg

I do situps in the morning, I have to get the alarm clock for the snooze button

swild

UnixGuy wrote: »

I keep a bottle of water with me at the office, and manage to drink 1 liter. I also bring an apple with me everyday to work

I also bring in a 1 liter SIG bottle and make sure to finish it by the end of the day. The fruit is a good idea, too. Much easier than Paleo.

Bokeh

I read this quote last night, and I think it makes a lot of sense in anything you do:

A famous photographer was invited to a dinner party by an equally famous socialite. Upon arriving, the hostess shook his hand and said "I've always admired your work, you must have a very expensive camera." Nothing more was said to him by the hostess. Once dinner was done, he got up, thanked the hostess, and said "Dinner was wonderful, you must have a very expensive stove." Then he left.

Learn to use what you have in life, and master it. You may have the latest and greatest hardware/software, etc. but if you do not take the time to learn it, you are not doing yourself or others any justice.

Roguetadhg

There's definitely something good about eating healthy. I've been able to stay up the entire day without feeling I need a nap to get through the usual work. More importantly, I don't feel like I need to punt a kitten after work and one person commented on my 'improved' attitude.

This is what I've been doing:

Morning
1. Greek Yogurt
2. Banana
3. PBnJ on whole grain
4. Orange Juice

Lunch:
1. Salad: Carrots, Spinach/Kale, Vingeratte, chicken breast strips and about 1/2 cup of glazed pecans
2. Packet of fish (M/W/F). After spilling sardine juices for too long, I'm skipping it and just buying the packet of fish.

I'll be able to drink about 4 cups of water throughout the work day if I'm just at my desk. If not, atleast one for lunch.

I'll eat grapes throughout the day, pick them off the vine. I cut out all sugar and caffeine - My Tea and Agave Nectar! No Guinness.

swild

Roguetadhg wrote: »

No Guinness.

Woah! That's crossing a line. I just don't want to be that healthy.

W Stewart

Another one I forgot. I started using google calendar to help calculate bills and whatnot. It has made life a lot easier for me and has made my calculations a lot more accurate.