A typical DBA day can include a mixture of Operational, Engineering and Architectural tasks. Whilst maintaining 100% database server availability and acceptable performance levels.

I’m always looking for method to focus my efforts.  Automation, documentation , reporting, monitoring are all ways of simplifying the mountains of information. S

Inspired by the minimalist guide to database administration

My current  Zen List of DBA productivity

1)    Check work email 3 times a day. With the exception of critical systems monitoring emails – which need immediate attention. Remember: if the issue is important enough , people will find you e.g IM & mobile phone

2)   When checking email – take an action on every email :  archive, delete , add to task list, delegate

3)  If I estimate the action to take less than 1 minute – commit the action

4)  Commit to one task at a time.

5)  Focus completely on that task. Leads to less mistakes and attention to the details.

6)  Aim to do less tasks –  with greater  concentration . Focus on solutions – documenting – reusing

7)   Morning ritual : check failed backups, jobs, critical errors in logs. Don’t let problems stack up.

8)  Focus on necessary tasks. Think about what is most important to fulfil the job. As a Production DBA , it could be : availability.

See Also

SQL Server – Maintaining different environments

Top 10 DBA Tips to develop your competitive edge

 SQL Server DBA Top 10 automation tasks