How do I stop being overwhelmed? 9

[DataHugger]

I have only been really working in the field for about 7 months. My offical title is Database Programmer.

How do I keep myself from feeling overwhelmed? I am on a technology team with two other people. We have really limited resources and we are developing several products that need a lot of attention. I think we need more resources/tools and maybe some more technology people. I don't think my boss thinks about the technology side of the company or am I being dense. Am I supposed to educated my boss and since I am low in experience I don't think he would take my suggestion seriously.

My boss keeps talking about developing more products and with my responsiblities (tech support/web admin/other things) outside my database/product I am starting to feel like he is making me bite off more than I can chew.

I feel like I need more training or a mentor or something. I know I can do the job, but being new means taking longer to do things. And the longer I take to do things the more stuff he puts on all our plates.

Is this the just the new graduate jitters or am I actually being overwhelmed?

-DaTaHuGGeR

 

[MasterRacker]

Working in the tech arena requires a high tolerance for stress. I've been programming or sysadmining or both for 18 years and have quite regularly felt overwhelmed. There will ALWAYS be more that needs to be done than you have time/resources for.

Make sure your boss is very involved with prioritization so he himself knows why you'er working on A instead of B and why C is delayed, etc...

As you're working on things don't be afraid to hang here and do hundreds of Googles. In college they want you to do everything by hand the hard way to learn it. In the real world, they want you to solve problems as fast as you can.

When all else fails, drink beer.


Jeff
The future is already here - it's just not widely distributed yet...

 

[11011110000]

Welcome to working for a small company where you do everything. I did that for over 4 years and learned more than I could have hoped. Training there was non-existent, too, because they were/are not a large company. Sometimes, though, I wish I could go back there, after having been gone for over 5 years and being specialized (and living in a metro of 1 million instead of a city of 30,000 )

 

[mrdenny]

I'll have to agree with the folks above here. Feeling overwelmed is pretty much par for the course. On thing you need to remember about IT work, is that 99.9% of the time IT is a cost center, not a revenue generator. That means that your department costs the company money to be there. So the bosses will want to get every penny they can out of there money. Which means not enough staff, to much work, and everything is top priority.

If you are being over loaded with work, ask your supervisor/manager what project is the higher priority, so that you know what needs to be done first based on the companies priorities. Don't be affraid to ask questions of your manager. He's there to help guide the projects (even if he doesn't want to). If he's hesitent on giving the projects a priority, you'll need to press the issue a little. Once the priorities have been set, you should feel a little less stress.

I've found it helpfull to keep a white board handy, which all the projects listed on it, with the priority. When new things are added they are ranked, and the priorities are shifted. With everything prioritized, if your boss comes asking why project x isn't done, you can go back to the board and say "Look, this is where you set the priority, so it's in queue to be worked on." Something a little more tactfull than that might work better though.

Denny

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

(My very old site)

 

[Terpsfan]

One thing I did was create a simple database application that I used to track progress on the projects/tasks I was assigned to. I would give it a priority number, which helped me to set my priorities. Each day I would print out an Unresolved Tasks report. This basically let me know what I needed to work on. This helped me to organize and focus my day.

I would track what I did to resolve the issue, hurdles encountered, etc. This also served to show the manager that I was doing a lot more than it seemed I was.

I added a code/solution library to this application. If I created or found some great code or solution to a problem, I would put it in my code library. I found it easy to look up a solution and plug it into a new application.

A major consideration is ensuring that your priorities jive with the manager's priorities.

 

[SQLSister]

First task is to learn to say no. When you feel overwhelmed and another task is added to your list, always ask where it stands in the priorities of what you already have and tell your boss which task will have to be delayed until you complete the others. Often managers have no real idea exactly how much work they have assigned to you - surprising I know, but true. You'd be surprised at how many of those requirements are nice-to-haves when you make the manager priorotize them.

As far as being a database programmer, your priorities are generally:

1. Fix anything broken on a production system. (not changes, but actual bugs that make the system fail) This is always the first priority.

2. Anything concerning db Admin (if you also have admin duties which you probably do) on a production system - backups, adding new users, reindexing, importing data, etc.

3. Scheduled project tasks in priority order. Insist that your boss set priorities. (If he won't, then you set the prioroites and tell him what order you will be working on things in. He'll let you know if he disagrees.)

4. Non-database tasks in priority order. (sometimes these will be more important than the db development work, but let your boss tell you that.)

There are times when you will need to work overtime particularly when production is broken or when a deadline looms near. But in general do what you can in your regular work hours and then go home. Just make sure your boss knows what you are working on in what order.

Also as a database programmer, you will need to learn whatever flavor of SQL you are using really well. Don't use a graphical interface to create queries, learn to write them your self. And make sure you really understand the relational database model and when denormalizing will cause problems and when it may make the system more efficent. Concentrate some time to really understand joins and Boolean algebra and to really understand data integrity and the problems created when data integrity is poor. You need to do some reading on db theory at home probably as you won't have time for this at work.

Also, get yourself one or more books on performance tuning for what ever database you use. It is much better to write efficient code from the start, than to have to fix inefficent code in a production system, where the inefficiencies don't really show up until you have lots of users and records. Snce you are just learning anyway, may as well learn the most efficent methods, so that they are second nature.

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[Terpsfan]

One thing I did was create a simple database application that I used to track progress on the projects/tasks I was assigned to. I would give it a priority number, which helped me to set my priorities. Each day I would print out an Unresolved Tasks report. This basically let me know what I needed to work on. This helped me to organize and focus my day.

I would track what I did to resolve the issue, hurdles encountered, etc. This also served to show the manager that I was doing a lot more than it seemed I was.

I added a code/solution library to this application. If I created or found some great code or solution to a problem, I would put it in my code library. I found it easy to look up a solution and plug it into a new application.

I also find that keeping a library of books in the workplace is a valuable help as a resource tool.

A major consideration is ensuring that your priorities jive with the manager's priorities.

 

[SQLSister]

Ooops, forgot one important point. When your boss asks you how long a task will take, figure out how long you think it will take and then triple your estimate. If the task involves learning a new technology don't forget to add a lot of extra time for learning (at least a solid week for anything major, more if it is something like web programming or .net).

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[mrdenny]

Good point, over estimate everything. It gives you a nice buffer, and when stuff comes in ahead of schedule you look great. Just make sure that some stuff takes close to the estimated amount of time, otherwise your Boss will know that you are over estimating.

Denny

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

(My very old site)

 

[DataHugger]

Thanks for the suggestions!

However, I tried using the estimates and I get this look from my boss that just makes me doubt everything I just said.

Will I become immune to his look?

 

[mrdenny]

Yeah, it will take time, but you will become immune to his look, and the stress that comes with the job.

Be patient grasshopper.


Denny

--Anything is possible. All it takes is a little research. (Me)

http://www.mrdenny.com

(My very old site)

 

[SQLSister]

If your boss isn't a technology type, he truly may not be awre of how long things take. You may need to break up your estimates into discrete tasks. It's a lot harder to blow away a three week estimate with 200 subtasks than it is to discount one general one.

Another technique is to then ask him how long he thinks it will take. Then detail the individual steps for him to show that what he thinks it will take is an unrealistic estimate.

Don't forget to have testing and debugging as part of the detailed tasks.

Questions about posting. See faq183-874

 

[MasterRacker]

Be careful how you present progress as well. Especially don't dummy up user interfaces until you actually have to. As soon as the non-technical see something that looks like it works, they think all yo have left is to "clean up the rough edges" and you'll be done. In the meantime, the reality is that you may have 80% of the real work left. The 80-20 rule really does apply.

An old rule of thumb made up by some engineers in WWII says to adjust an estimate for public consumption, add one and change to the next higher unit. If you think it will take 2 days, tell them 3 weeks. ;-)


Jeff
The future is already here - it's just not widely distributed yet...

 

[Katy44]

I have been in this 'overwhelmed' position twice in two completely separate position. The first time, I pretended I could cope, worked 16 hour days, got completely stressed, panicked when the smallest thing went wrong, and effectively got the sack after a year.

In my current job, I felt this about a week ago. It wasn't so much the amount of work as the complete diversity of the projects, and the fact that I was taking the lead on about 8 of them. I asked to speak to my boss, showed him a list of all my projects and said that I needed help deciding what was a priority and what was not.

The points I'm trying to make are:
-the longer you leave sorting out these things the worse they get
-be proactive and remember that everything has a priority
-don't get so bogged down with the details that you spend far too much time achieving very little (something I have a tendency to do). Decide for yourself how long a task should take (this may not necessarily be the same as you tell your boss) and then if it gets past your deadline think - is there another (possibly less perfect) way to achieve the same effect? Is there a workaround?

Good luck, and don't get too stressed!

 

[philote]

I'm definitely overwhelmed at times as well, but I nicely let everyone know this when they ask something more of me. Good planning goes a long way to giving you more time to do your tasks. For example, since you do some tech support, don't troubleshoot the same problem twice. Track problems you have so you can go back and look up solutions instead of struggling through them again. Make these solutions available to the users, say in an online document or web-based app, so they can find their own answers. Make sure the users have sufficient training so they will bug you less. Find ways to automate common tasks using scripting languages and scheduling.

A problem I have that you may be experiencing is other employees, and even managers, coming directly to you when they need something or have a problem. While this is ok in certain situations, it is often unecessary and takes up more of your time than if they simply sent you an e-mail. E-mail is a good way to keep a track of problems or requests so you don't forget them and also makes people think about what they're asking of you a little more.

Consider asking your boss if you can take some training classes on areas where you're weak. That will help you improve your efficiency in those tasks that take longer than they should.

Also, what do your other two team members think? Do they feel overworked as well? Do they share all of your responsibilities and are they pulling their own weight?

If you are all feeling overworked, consider finding an outside company that can come in and handle some of the less important tasks. For example, I found a company recently who will come in once a month and perform routine preventative maintenance so I can focus on more important matters. Of course, your boss may not go for this, but it's worth suggesting.

And of course, follow everyone else's wonderful suggestions on prioritization and communication with your boss.

 

[DataHugger]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Yes, all my teammates feel that we have so much to do that we will never get it all done.

I guess I need to get over my feeling that my boss has to be right even when I know something will not work in the time time frame he set up.

I am hoping more experince will just help get through all of our projects. I believe that we can do everything that gets set before me it is just sometimes the timeline stresses me more then the actual project.

~DaTaHuGGeR