Paul Graham, exactly one year ago: "What a startup (bootstrapped or not) takes is 100% of your performance, not 100% of your time."http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=679278
He was talking about exercise, but I think the same is true with having kids.
In my case, I spend 4 hours with my kids every workday: 6am - 10am. During that time, I get:
- Ridiculous, insane amounts of joy.
- A chance to see the way that little minds think, which usually triggers a good software idea at least once per week.
- The same kind of chemical response that I would get from volunteering. Before kids, I tried to volunteer about 20 hours per week because it released some kind of neuro-chemical that made me really happy. Helping - and in particular, TEACHING - my kids triggers a similar response.
- An opportunity to process the day's coming challenges (subconsciously)
- Lots of laughs, enough that I don't feel compelled to watch as many TV shows or movies as I did previously.
For me, it works out to a huge net positive on both personal fulfillment and professional performance.
He was talking about exercise, but I think the same is true with having kids.
In my case, I spend 4 hours with my kids every workday: 6am - 10am. During that time, I get:
- Ridiculous, insane amounts of joy.
- A chance to see the way that little minds think, which usually triggers a good software idea at least once per week.
- The same kind of chemical response that I would get from volunteering. Before kids, I tried to volunteer about 20 hours per week because it released some kind of neuro-chemical that made me really happy. Helping - and in particular, TEACHING - my kids triggers a similar response.
- An opportunity to process the day's coming challenges (subconsciously)
- Lots of laughs, enough that I don't feel compelled to watch as many TV shows or movies as I did previously.
For me, it works out to a huge net positive on both personal fulfillment and professional performance.