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Critique my weekday time allocation

Here's how I split my time up on weekdays. My goal is to get a balanced allocation for family, work, health, personal projects, and myself.

Day Job - 7 to 8 hours depending on how long I take for lunch
Family Time - 3 hours. 1 hour in the morning and 2 after work
Personal Time - I spend about 1 hour playing a video game or reading
Working out - I work out 3 days a week for 1 hour. On non-workout days I do household chores
Random Household Stuff - I'm home alone with my daughter on most days during the COVID lockdown so I spend about 2 - 3 hours per day tending to her directly - feeding, playing, lessons, etc.
Personal projects - 1 or 2 hours for my personal projects during the week
Sleep - my sleep time generally hangs around 7 hours plus or minus half an hour

The time for personal projects takes a big hit during the week but it's the best I could come up with so far to keep everything balanced.

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    Cut the video games. Read during downtimes at work. Since I went full time on https://storycreatorapp.com I realize if this were just a side thing it would never get done and I am not sure if I would have gotten paying customers. So what I am saying in order for it to gain traction it needs as much attention as you can give it.

    I love fitness but until you gain a little inch. I would do bodyweight workouts between code compiles or when you have a 10-20 min breather. Unless you have a home gym, then I would still make it quick and maintain your body. Preserve your CNS as much as possible - I am not advocating being lazy in the gym but treat this as maintenance. If you really want gains, then find a program that focuses on heavy lifting, so you can get in and out.

    That said also spend time at work (10-20 min) planning out your action plan so when you're in that 2-hour window you're SUPER effective, no Facebook, no Instagram, no unrelated attention spent elsewhere.

    Know exactly where you want to go and set clear goals that are obtainable - find the path of least resistance, which is hard when you're new and naive. Sometimes you will make mistakes and waste time doing the wrong things, that's fine. The best way to combat that is find the right mentor, easier said than done, this is a solution to the problem though.

    It all comes down to the pain we choose. Do you want the pain of not knowing you seized an opportunity and became more, or do you want the pain of being disciplined and pushing yourself outside your comfort zone?

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      Hey man, I agree with much of what you're saying especially the part about creating an action plan before starting to work and no social media, etc. But as @Jondeporta mentioned, I feel like I need something to take my mind off of work during the day so that's where the reading and video games come in. There were times before when I poured everything I had into my day job and side project but I just ended up burning out and quitting.

      This time around I don't want that to happen so I'm trying to find ways of balancing work effort with everything else. I think the problem with me is that I still want things to move faster. lol. As you alluded to with creating an action plan, I now feel like if I'm more effective with my time, I should be ok. Also, I'd need to have some patience since I'm purposefully working at a slower pace.

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        I think we have same experience about working hard and failing. Enjoy your time, especially with your daughter, moment where you can't repeat

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      That not sustainable and you will felt burn out. If video games make he happy, why not ?

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        Respectfully disagree. First, let me state, I like playing video games. I have nothing against them.

        The problem is when you have to pick between living a free lifestyle and running your own company or having some comfort. There is a time when transitioning between the two you have to make a choice.

        I believe once you get a grip on your side hustle and it becomes your main focus. Then you can take some breaks and let loose a little.

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          Yes, maybe that good for you, most people will burn out and decide to give up as the result.

          We live in unpredictable world, we don't know how long our side project will become main focus or started generating income. What if we fail ? When we break then ?

          I personaly working hard in beggining my entreprenuer years for about 4 year, working hard day and night, gave up video game, no social life, and I got a bit success before a big fail. I learn, and try to working less, try to playing my old console game, started going out with friend. Slowly, I felt better, out of my depression, and my businesss doing pretty good.

          I believe with balanced work life, less stress, happier life.

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    "Balanced" is different for everyone, depending on your situation.

    Obviously, two hours per week isn't a ton of time for personal projects. I'd imagine it would be tough to accomplish much in that time-frame.

    But what would you be willing to give up to find the time? A messier house? Less family time? Less sleep?

    There's obviously no good answer. Saying that you don't have time to take on a major personal project completely makes sense.

    But if you do want to take on a major project, being conscious of where you are sacrificing is the key.

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      Thanks for the advice! But it's not 2 hours a week I have, it's 1 to 2 hours per day during the week (sorry for the confusion). Is that the usual amount of time people spend on their personal projects?

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        Sorry for the mistake! That’s more reasonable.

        Are you having issues where this feels ‘unbalanced’ to you? Again, I’d say this is all a personal thing

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          I think it is balanced enough for now but I just feel guilty like maybe I should be working on personal projects more. I guess my mind is just accustomed to doing things quickly but I'm learning to slow down bit by bit

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