Mastering Time Management: Your Secret Weapon for a Thriving DevOps Career
20 Proven Strategies to Take Control of Your Time, Eliminate Overwhelm, and Accelerate Your DevOps Journey by “The Art of Laziness”
Mastering time is the first step to mastering your career.
Transitioning into a DevOps career or growing as a DevOps professional can feel like standing at the base of a towering mountain. The endless technologies to master—Kubernetes, Terraform, Jenkins, AWS—and the demands of keeping systems resilient and secure, all while staying productive, can easily overwhelm even the most determined techies.
But here’s the thing: success in DevOps isn’t just about mastering tools or solving technical challenges. It’s about mastering yourself. More specifically, it’s about mastering your time.
Let’s start with a little story.
Imagine an engineer named Raj. Raj is skilled—he’s spent years working in traditional IT but wants to pivot into DevOps. He spends his days immersed in tutorials, sifting through myriads of posts by dinfluencers (devops influencers, a term that I am coining today) experimenting with Docker, and troubleshooting his home lab. But no matter how hard he works, he feels stuck. The hours seem to slip through his fingers, and the to-do list never gets shorter.
Then Raj discovers a framework for managing his time more effectively. Inspired by a little-known book called “The Art of Laziness”, he learns 20 simple yet powerful principles that change the way he works and thinks. Within months, he has automated his first CI/CD pipeline, nailed his Kubernetes certification, and landed a role as a DevOps Engineer.
What’s the secret? It wasn’t just the technical skills. It was a mindset shift.
I meet so many Raj every week who start enthusiastically with their devops journey, but get lost within a few weeks mainly due to lack of discipline and poor time management.
Here are the 20 strategies that helped Raj—and that can help you—set the foundation for DevOps career success.
Inspiration
These strategies are inspired by the book: “The Art of Laziness”. The title initially caught me off guard (I mean, laziness? Really?). But as I flipped through the pages, I realized it wasn’t about being lazy—it was about working smarter, not harder.
This book taught me one of the most valuable lessons in my career: mastering time is the ultimate productivity hack. And today, I want to share some of the principles I learned, tailored specifically for you—my fellow DevOps professionals and aspiring RealOps Engineers.
Let’s dive in!
And if you prefer to listen on, try this audio podcast version of my experiments with these productivity hacks by clicking the link below…
1. Plan Your Day
Every productive day starts with a plan. Before diving into your tasks, define your priorities. Whether it's learning Terraform or debugging a Jenkins pipeline, focus on what matters most.
My tip: Here is how I implement it. I write down three most important tasks to achieve that day. Helps me stay focused as well as prioritise.
2. Write Down Your Goals
DevOps is a marathon, not a sprint. Writing down clear goals—whether it’s becoming AWS-certified or automating a deployment process—gives you a roadmap to follow.
Success in DevOps isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters most.
3. Get Visual with Your Goals
There’s power in seeing your goals every day. Use sticky notes, a Kanban board, or even a physical notebook to track your progress. It keeps your aspirations tangible and top of mind.
My Tip: I have started writing my goal card and keeping it around my work desk. I have also started using physical kanban board with sticky notes, however still struggling to put it as a process.
4. Follow the 80/20 Rule
Not all tasks are equal. In DevOps, 20% of your efforts—like automating repetitive tasks—can solve 80% of your problems, 20% of focused learning on key topics (e.g. VPC in AWS, Service Networking and Pods in Kubernetes) can give you a lot of clarity on rest of the 80%. Identify these high-leverage activities and make them your priority.
5. Stop Multitasking
Multitasking is a myth. Switching between fixing a deployment issue, responding to Slack, and learning Kubernetes only reduces your productivity. Instead, focus on one task at a time for deeper impact.
6. Focus on One Task at a Time
DevOps requires precision. Whether it’s writing an Ansible playbook or configuring an alert in Prometheus, giving your full attention to a single task minimizes mistakes and maximizes results.
7. Remove Distractions
Notifications, emails, and unnecessary meetings are the enemy of focus. Create a distraction-free environment when you’re working on critical tasks like coding or debugging.
8. Take Breaks When Needed
Burnout is real in high-stakes roles like DevOps. Short breaks—or even a quick nap—can recharge your mind and improve your problem-solving abilities.
My Tip: I have used Pomodoro Technique (using Be Focused app on iphone and mac, but there are plenty other options) to set focused activity periods of 25 mins/45 minutes with breaks in between. It has helped me remove distractions, and stay focused on one task in one pomodoro cycle.
9. Learn to Say No
Not every task is urgent or essential. Say no to things that don’t align with your goals, and use that time to work on what truly matters.
10. Delegate and Automate
Automation isn’t just a tool; it’s a mindset. Free your time to focus on innovation.
DevOps is built on automation. If a task can be automated—like backups, builds, or monitoring—do it. For tasks that can’t, delegate when possible. Free up your energy for strategic work.
11. Don’t Wait for Perfect Conditions
Don’t let perfectionism paralyze you. In DevOps, progress beats perfection every time.
There’s no such thing as the perfect setup. Whether you’re building a CI/CD pipeline or preparing for an interview, start with what you have. Iteration is better than procrastination.
My Struggle: This is my struggle. This one obsession for perfectionism has kept me away from releasing so many content pieces to the world. This time I have taken to substack to just write/record and publish as much work as possible, without worrying about it being perfect.
12. The 5-Minute Rule
If a task takes less than 5 minutes—like reviewing a pull request—do it immediately. This prevents small tasks from piling up and stealing mental energy. This will also get you out of the procrastination cycle.
13. Do the Hard Task First
The hardest task often holds the biggest breakthrough. Tackle it first.
In DevOps, the hardest task is often the most impactful. Tackle it first thing in your day. Once it’s done, everything else feels easier.
My Experience: I have been a morning person, and I love to come in early to work. I used to be in office at 7.30am at one point, and would have more than 70% of my day’s work done by like 10.30am. I call it being in the zone and I love that. Now a day’s I can not do that I have to get my twin boys, who are turning 5 next month, ready and drop them at school. So my day starts at 9, but I try to get the biggest task of the day done first thing in the morning, and then take it as it comes after that. I naturally slow down during the noon and evening, to find my zone again post 8pm.
As a a fellow RealOps Triber, I am curious to know when do you find yourself in the zone ? Submit your response below….
14. Set Deadlines
Without deadlines, tasks stretch indefinitely. Whether you’re learning a new tool or completing a project, set a timeline and stick to it.
15. Ignore Non-Essential Tasks
Focus on tasks that directly contribute to your DevOps goals—like mastering GitOps or building scalable infrastructure. Everything else is just noise.
16. Avoid Perfectionism
Striving for excellence is good, but perfectionism can paralyze progress. Get things done, ship them, and iterate. That’s the DevOps way.
"Don’t let perfectionism paralyze you. In DevOps, progress beats perfection every time."
17. Schedule Email and Slack Time
Constantly checking email and Slack disrupts focus. Block specific times to handle communication and protect your productive hours.
18. Avoid Unnecessary Meetings
DevOps teams thrive on collaboration, but not every meeting is essential. If there’s no clear agenda or action items, decline or request an email summary.
19. Surround Yourself with Positive Influences
Stay connected to a community that supports and inspires you—like the RealOps Tribe. Positive people energize you and keep you focused on growth.
20. Do What You Love
DevOps is about solving real-world problems and building systems that matter. Embrace the challenge, and let your passion drive your success.
I am curious to know whats your biggest challenge… submit your response …
Shaping Your DevOps Mindset for Career Success
Transitioning into DevOps isn’t just a technical journey—it’s a mindset shift. Time is your most valuable resource, and mastering how you use it will set you apart from the rest.
By following these 20 principles, you’ll create a structure that not only helps you stay productive but also builds the confidence and resilience you need to thrive in a fast-paced industry.
Remember, every expert started as a beginner. Every DevOps professional once faced the same challenges you’re tackling now. The difference lies in how you manage your time, focus your efforts, and cultivate the right mindset.
As you take these strategies and make them your own, know that you’re not alone. The RealOps Tribe is here to support you, cheer you on, and celebrate your wins. Together, we’re building the future—one deployment, one pipeline, one career at a time.
Let’s thrive, RealOps Tribe. Your DevOps journey starts today.
Inspired by the principles shared in “The Art of Laziness,” this article is your guide to building a mindset for success in the ever-evolving world of DevOps.