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Comment by xyzzyb | Hacker News Reader

Tip #1: don't have kids. They are awesome, but complete side-projects themselves and take up more time than a full-time job. :-)

Tip #2: do something and blog about it. What worked, what didn't work, what tangents were useful? Post your updates back to whatever community you are working in. The responses are fantastic encouragement and will drive your productivity up.

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Regarding #1, I have released more side-projects since I became a father. I'm still not a wonder of productivity, but I certainly did cut down on casual browsing, chatting and TV-shows.

I know that I have (if I'm lucky, doesn't happen every day) 1-2 hours to spend in front of my computer. That time is more precious and used more productively than before. When I'm really motivated I plan ahead, and might already know which bug to fix when I get some time at the computer.

I think this also tangents some other comments about "do something else". I never have time to sit at the computer when I get home from work - I might cook dinner, read a story, play in the garden, prepare for the morning... and after that I'm more likely to want to do some coding (or whatever) again.

I agree more with Tip #2 then with #1, but both hold water. I have a 2 year old and I'm more motivated now then ever when it comes to building my side projects. However, I have ONE son and yes, he is a full-time job. Tip #2 is really important...build and blog, build again and blog, keep building and keep blogging.

Yeah, #1 is based on my recent experience of adding a newborn to a four year old. 1+1 is apparently 27

I agree - I'm not going to argue that children aren't a lot of work or take a tremendous amount of (what used to be) free time. However, I've found that it really makes me evaluate what I do, put it into the perspective, and maintain focus through to the end. Obviously, I don't have as much time to dilly-dally as I used to, but I can still be very productive with the time I do have (rather - I take much more advantage of that time).

> Yeah, #1 is based on my recent experience of adding a newborn to a four year old. 1+1 is apparently 27

Is your spouse stay-at-home?

Totally. I'm about to add a newborn to a 2 year old. Getting up early is an unrealistic option because I'm already up early with the kids. Working on side projects after 9p works best for me. Kids are in bed at 7p or so, hang out with the wife for a couple hours and wind down, then start on some projects. I wonder if other fathers who work on side projects have similar schedules.

My schedule is similar, except our four year old is now totally in bed asleep around 8 - 8:30. Given that we wake up with the newborn around 4-6am that doesn't leave a big time window for getting sleep and hanging out with the wife and doing side projects.

Things will calm down in a few months I'm sure -- once the new one is sleeping through the night.

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