Indie Hackers with kids: How do you balance work with family?
Indie hacking is hard.
Raising kids is hard.
Doing both at the same time is...really hard.
I have three kids of my own. Balancing work with family hasn't exactly been a smooth journey. I've learned a TON along the way, but I still have room to improve.
I'd love to learn more about what's worked for you.
How do you balance work with family? How has your schedule changed because of your kids? Do you ever feel like you spend too much (or not enough) time working, and not enough (or too much) time with your kids?
When you say really hard, what exactly are the hard things that you’re referring to?
Planning. I have not only just two kids ages 11 years old and 2 years, but also a full-time working partner, who is my co-founder! Challenge is real!
What helps me is planning ahead, sometimes shutting down things and be silly and present with kids. I do plan days and weeks ahead, but often things don't go according to plan (you can guess why). However, it makes me feel focused and confident when I need to and have a spare 5-30 mins there and there, because I know what tasks I need to work on to keep making steady progress on our startup.
If you want to discuss more - open for a chat.
It's age dependent to some degree (the kids that is). My kids are 5 and 8 so are still at the stage where the best thing in life is getting Dad or Mum's full attention and involvement. To this end, and much more important than the net number of hours I spend with them, I try to be as genuinely 'present' as possible when I am with them. This means fully tuning into whatever they're doing, even if it's just for a short period and ignoring all other signals (internal or external).
I have 2 kids (3 yr old & 6 yr old) and I feel this. I waver back and forth on whether or not I'm investing too much or too little into my side project.
The best advice I can give is to commit to at least 1 hour per day set aside for your project when your kids are asleep. If you do it at the beginning of the day, you'll feel accomplished and less pressure to "get ahead." If you put your 1 hour at night it gives you something to look forward to.
Full transparency, the only way I'm really able to keep to a schedule of 1 full hour every day is by skipping Netflix, video games, social media, etc. I sometimes indulge in those things, but I know that means I'm trading time I would've used for my startup.
I have a really needy dog that makes this difficult enough. I can't imagine doing it with three kids. I have no advice to give, but I condole with you.