I was lucky in that my natural schedule allows a lot of quiet thinking time without having to short shrift the family time or time with the wife. I'm up by 430

I was lucky in that my natural schedule allows a lot of quiet thinking time without having to short shrift the family time or time with the wife. I'm up by 430 every morning and in my office by 6, with gym time before I get in. I get a good 2-4 hours of 'me' time every single work day for learning or exploring- and it's also my most creative time of day. The gym lifts the early morning head fog and I get a lot of stuff done. I'm almost always home by 4:30 or 5 and get a few hours of play time with the kids which usually rejuvenates me more. If I'm having a good day I may get a little exploratory work done after the kids go down, but usually I just let the mind rest a little or read some HN.