Experience has shown that less-experienced admins have a higher propensity for going “heads down.” Heads down occurs when you are troubleshooting a problem and you either get tunnel vision or lose perspective on time. Tunnel vision is the trap of not considering external factors that might be causing your problem.
Taking on troubleshooting as a personal crusade is nothing more than a waste of time. Six hours later, although you may have resolved a TCP/IP configuration , it probably could have been solved within one or two hours if outside resources had been consulted. You will find no more (painfully) honest statement.
In any case, it is essential to limit your core troubleshooting efforts to just one hour before stepping back from the situation and calling in help and reinforcements.
