January 21, 2010 at 7:10 am
I've found most of the problems we are discussing are not DBA problems; these problems exist in most business/technical areas. During my 20 years as a tech in the military I dealt with many of the same issues, in a very stressful 24/7 environment. Except in the military often times you can't escape by going home when you're deployed overseas somewhere.
Techs are never appreciated when things are working, and when things are not working then it's your problem to fix.
I used to run a lot or drink to relieve stress. Now I don't drink so much. I ride my bicycle to work (yeah it gets cold here in Ohio) but in the morning it helps me plan my day and in the afternoon I've forgotten my problems by the time I get home.
January 21, 2010 at 7:12 am
While I agree with majorbloodnock that most of these issues are not specific to DBAs, but rather business issues, I think the question of how you deal with these stresses to be a valuable one. What I have decided to do to mitigate the stresses that I feel in my non-DBA role is to be content with my own abilities. "I yam what I yam" to quote Popeye.
If I know what I can and cannot do, continually work to do better and to help those around me do better, then I do not need to worry about job reviews/GMs standing over my shoulder/etc. If I am doing everything that I possibly can for this job, and they decide to fire me, then odds are I don't want to work for them anyway, or I can be honest and agree that I was lacking, and then work on what those issues were.
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"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
January 21, 2010 at 7:19 am
For years I was a contract DBA. My job required going in finding and fixing problems most of which where related to poor practices. Today I manage a world wide SQL Network with servers in multiple countries. I start with the basics. Documentation, standards, baselines, monitoring, security. Then I start the firefighting and fixing the issues. Meetings are kept to a minimum. Email are my preferred method of communications so that I control my time.
I am also a trainer, so when I find someone that needs, lets say to improve their way of thinking, I offer them some training material or articles on a better way of doing what they do. Over time, I get to play more Freecell 🙂
Raymond Laubert
Exceptional DBA of 2009 Finalist
MCT, MCDBA, MCITP:SQL 2005 Admin,
MCSE, OCP:10g
January 21, 2010 at 7:56 am
Yes, I think it is very important for a DBA to have influence on how many hours they work. That was part of the negotiation when I got my new job as well. Make the job what you want it to be also. At my last job, I took on too much for years, until the last year when I'd usually come in an hour late. No one said a word. And in fact there was a small panic when I left. I don't think I've worked over 42 hours in a week for the last few years. I do of course have to do research and read books on my own time to keep up, but that can be done while riding the stationary bike. I'm also the main .NET programmer so I have to read up on that as well.
January 21, 2010 at 8:02 am
Thought provoking and why I downshifted my responsibilities a couple of years ago. After years of getting rousted in the middle of the night, beaten up by developers, and sweating always available apps and data, I moved to a company that has outsourced production DBA work. I am now a BI App DBA. I get to hassle the production DBAs and (hopefully) add value through my development ideas.
I also run and bike and remember that regardless of what happens, the sun will rise tomorrow somewhere.
January 21, 2010 at 8:19 am
Keep the right perspective and focus on what is important espe when things go wrong..the work is something we do for a living and there is more to life than making a living..i do yoga every day, talk to family and do something outdoors when weather permits. And most importantly find like minded people in same profession with whom you can VENT. Venting is somewhat underrated or perhaps being a woman it gives me more relief i dont know but i have a couple of friends who are also DBAs..we get together for coffee and say everything we ever wanted to say on bosses, developers, anyone. Not all of it is balanced,many of it one sided but it is not vicious, just letting it out and we feel a whole lot better after..The DBA profession has its pros and cons..it is well paying, prospects are reasonably good assuming you keep up with the learning, technically challenging, and of late atleast a lot of community has developed around it. The biggest 'con' i see which makes it different from other professions - many companies only see it as a firefighting/support job, there is rarely any pro active recognition for keeping servers up and ensuring smooth business coz' that is what you're paid to do.
January 21, 2010 at 8:31 am
I've been a DBA for many years and before that I managed Telco TDM switched networks and equipment that had to run 24/7/365. Working as a telco engineer was more stressfull and required even longer hours than a DBA. Many of the problems Brad mentioned existed in that enviornment as well and as others have suggested many were upper management problems.
That being said, after working 90 hour weeks for six months straight, and short hospital stay for exhaustion I learned to work smarter not harder. I learned when to say no and when to say yes. It took a long time but I shifted my attitudes, perpective, and work idiology and focused more on fire prevention than fire fighting. I still have to fight fires, and I'm good at that but by being proactive rather than reactive all the time I've avoided many of the 3am calls and saved the companies I've worked at a lot of money.
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January 21, 2010 at 8:45 am
webrunner (1/21/2010)
...But the increase in scope has been a little overwhelming at times. I'm curious to know how others handle that "scope inflation," for lack of a better term.
Spot on. The SQL Server suite is so broad and deep now that I think one has to choose the area in which one is going to specialise and try to keep a foot in the other camps. It's getting harder to be a jack-of-all-trades....doesn't stop people wanting you to be a master-of-all-trades though!
It can be very stressful trying to keep up with every aspect and facet of SQL Server (or any technology for that matter); realising that you can't be brilliant at everything is the key to removing, or at least alleviating, that stress.
Wouldn't you all agree that some stress can be energising and motivating though, particularly when one resolves the issue that created the stress in the first place?
January 21, 2010 at 8:51 am
I've learnt two things about the scope inflation problem -
1 Dont' go all out and learn something just 'coz it is stated to be cool
2 Try to optimise on what you can learn with existing technology at work as much as possible.
It is true that scope has expanded hugely but from experience there is always hope/opportunities for those of us who do what we do well, and have a general knowledge of things that are outside the scope. It has become increasingly acceptable to say for example that you used clustering but can learn mirroring if needed, or used transactional replication but can learn any other form of replication fi necessary. Also certification gives people confidence that you do have an overview of technologies even if you have not used them.
January 21, 2010 at 8:52 am
Some stress is good, some stress is bad. I have found, personally, that there needs to be some level of stress in the environment in order to get things done. It has to be managed, however, and constant overstressing is when problems start occurring.
January 21, 2010 at 10:00 am
Surfing and Brasilian Jiu Jitsu help me out tons. I do this stuff daily and it helps with work stress.
Andy
January 21, 2010 at 10:06 am
surfing. hmph. 30 degrees F and no ocean. I'm sure it helps your stress, but you just upped mine...;-)
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How best to post your question[/url]
How to post performance problems[/url]
Tally Table:What it is and how it replaces a loop[/url]
"stewsterl 80804 (10/16/2009)I guess when you stop and try to understand the solution provided you not only learn, but save yourself some headaches when you need to make any slight changes."
January 21, 2010 at 11:01 am
I see several mentioning martial arts stuff... Do your coworkers have to attend as well to get the full relaxing effect...? 😀
Chad
January 21, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Thanks for all of the thoughtful feedback. I purposely didn't say what I do to relieve stress in the editorial, as I didn't want to influence anyone. While I can't claim to deal with stress particularly well, my philosophy has been to try and avoid it in the first place. This usually means that, as much as possible, I perform my job as best I can, I try to be proactive, and I try to set the expectations of those around me. This helps some, and gives me a little sense of control over what happens to me. Of course, there is still a lot I can't control, and invariably I feel stress. As some have recommended, there is only so much you can do, and at that point, you just have to accept what is given you. Sometimes I deal with this well, and other times not so well. Stress is an on-going battle for me, one that I doubt will ever go away completely.
Brad M. McGehee
DBA
January 21, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Great article Brad, you hit just about every point one could think of. Many of the responses have touched things that I have done in the past to quote, 'relieve stress'. I think the key is that one realizes that stress is a part of life - the postings that mention other occupations and their stresses seem to support that. Now let me move to your original question - How I handle stress, first the common sense things:
- eating meals on a regular schedule
- eating snacks on a regular schedule
- sleeping/waking on a regular schedule
- 2 glasses of red wine every day
- being flexible in scheduling life, work and their balance
- taking a 5-10 minute break to walk around every hour at work
- compartmentalization - no pictures or distractions at work from home
- compartmentalization - the only work thing at home is my laptop and docking station
Now for the more Zen things:
- Acceptance that stress is a part of life
- Acceptance that change is a part of life
- Acceptance that you have only the 'illusion' of control of your life
- Acceptance that your 'circle of concern' is far smaller than 'your sphere of influence'
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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