Bootstrapping - the secret (family friendly) work week

Written by Matt on November 1, 2011

After reading an article titled Bootstrapping - the secret work week over on hacker news, I thought I'd do a family friendly version. We have a 7 year old and a 4 year old.

Get up Early

Getting up early is usually a forgone conclusion for those of us with young kids. They tend to wake up way too early. I can't seem to squeeze a whole hour out each morning but I do get to work half an hour early and use that time to hack.

Total: 5 hours

Afternoon

I happen to be a freelance developer but still have customers and I have to deliver on their expectations. That said, each afternoon I wrap up what I was working on and flick contexts into start-up mode for another hour. Afternoon time is great for the quick wins. Things that can be done after thinking about other customer problems all day long. Make a list.

5 hours

Night time

Family time is from when I get home till the kids are in bed. 5:30ish - 8ish.

Lately we've been addicted to Breaking Bad and were watching it just a little bit too much but we're done now and am back to another 2 hours per night. If you watch TV on the network's schedule you're a chump. Stop that.

10 hours

Weekends

Weekends for us are busy. Sport, family, friends, it all happens on the weekend. That said I can usually find another hour and a half on each weekend day. If the kids happen to be playing quietly together is a perfect time.

3 hours

Total time: 23 hours per week

So I come in under the 49 hours mentioned in the other article, but that's OK. I've done 80 hour weeks before in a previous start up and family time it not optional if you want to be in it for the long haul.

Also, by the time you have a family, I hope you're a little more focussed and picky about what you're spending your time on and waste far less of it.