👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 Full time indie-hacking led to improved family life

Admittedly, when I quit my daytime job to become a full-time indie hacker with Cleavr, I wasn't thinking about my family beyond continuing to be able to provide the necessities we need to survive and to be able to afford basic activities for my kids to partake in.

My thought process was more so how I wanted to not wait any longer to go all-in on crafting a business with my biz partner. More professional selfishness than anything else.

Yes, the decision to go full-time was made in agreement with my spouse as it would impact the lifestyle we were accustomed to and would cause us to be more thrifty with expenditures; but, she was and still is 110% in with me. If we're not on the same page, then this arrangement will not work as that is a load-bearing wall.

After 10 months of indie-hacking, this is where I've seen improvements in family life

• No commute, no office, no co-workers = more energy for me! I love working on Cleavr and really only get energy out of it. Other jobs zapped my energy and keeping up your "office face" is super draining. Now, I have more energy for the wife and kids (even though I "work" twice as much as before) 🏃🏻‍♂️
• More energy for the wife (think what you will) - since I don't have the same tiredness and burnout as I did when going to work for other people, I don't come home and need an hour or two for myself. Which allows more time for my wife to talk to me without me getting mad. 🙊
• More time with my oldest - he comes to visit me like 100 times a day, sometimes it's annoying, but usually it's not. Taking hockey and soccer breaks with him is something I look forward to every day. ⚽️
• Getting to experience my youngest grow up in a way that I didn't get to experience with my oldest. My youngest is nearly two and will come into my office with books for me to read to him. 📚👶

I realize a lot of this overlaps with what it would be like to work-from-home and not necessarily due to 100% indie-hacking; though, I'd argue that the drain I feel for working for others would cut my experience down by half.

I feel blessed to be able to be all in being an indie hacker while at the same time growing closer to my loving family. Of course, this may not always be the case for me or for others; let's be cognizant of where happiness lays.