It's About Time

2:00 PM -- Wouldn't it be nice if you actually spent most of your work time on the things that were most important to your department and your company? Wouldn't it be great if you actually had time to do all of the things outlined in your job description?

Well, dream on, dawg. Because most IT security professionals -- like professionals in many other walks of life -- spend an awful lot of their days doing stupid, mundane, and otherwise non-productive things that don't really match the priorities originally laid out by managers and job descriptions.

Just how bad is the situation? How much of your time is spent doing the mission-critical security work you were hired to do, and how much is spent doing makework projects and administrative crap that doesn't really make your company more secure? This week, we're conducting a new Dark Reading reader survey to find out.

The survey, which we've dubbed "A Day in the Life of an IT Security Pro," asks 20 questions about your job and how you spend your day at work. It asks about how you work, about who manages your time, and about how you goof off. And yes, all responses are anonymous.

As you take the survey -- and we sincerely hope you will -- please remember that for once, we're not asking about your priorities, your goals, or what you think you should be doing. We're asking how your days actually go, including all the junk you wish you didn't have to do. We've even provided space for you to rant about tasks and responsibilities that are time-wasters, and to talk about the areas where you wish you had more time to spend.

If you can spare a moment from one of those time-wasting projects, please take the survey right now by clicking here. Your responses, and those of your fellow readers, will be reported in a Dark Reading story scheduled for the end of November.

And if you don't have time right now, save the link and take the survey later. We know how your day can get away from you.

— Tim Wilson, Site Editor, Dark Reading