How to be an efficient linode server admin

Farm it out.

I'm a molecular biophysicist by profession, and although I mess around playing sysadmin on side projects (both for my company and myself/friends/family/non-profits because I find it fun and interesting) our bread and butter systems (large rendering clusters) are managed by pro's who do nothing but sysadmin tasks.

Why? Because that's EFFICIENT management practices. I make money doing biochem, not doing (or learning) how to do another persons profession.

Unless you're already rich, or like being poor, spend your time on BILLABLE hours, not on doing something you can farm out.

You may want to see if there is a Linux user group or system administrators' group (such as LOPSA in North America) in your area. These usually will have educational presentations so you can learn about system administration topics. You'll also find people who you may be able to trade with (e.g., I'll help admin your box if you'll help develop an application for me).