This is 100% my situation with my side project. Understanding that all of these are approximations for a weekday: 12-9: sleep then get kiddo ready then get me r

This is 100% my situation with my side project. Understanding that all of these are approximations for a weekday: 12-9: sleep then get kiddo ready then get me ready. 9-5: job. 5-6: transit (ouch). 6-9: family. 9-11: side project (occasional breaks for other stuff, reading, vegging, etc). 11-12: cooldown (sometimes missed). I show everyone that shows the slightest interest what I'm doing. I make incremental progress then, as a reward, work hard towards specific milestones on my nights off; my wife and I trade nights where we don't have to be a parent and get to go off and play and I often just go to a coffee shop and work on my side project. My slow progress can be extremely frustrating but I try to offset that with the gratification when I achieve my milestones. I used to doubt that I could be this disciplined until this particular side project; now it's effortless because I'm doing what I want to do and it makes me happy. And, ultimately, that's what decided it for me: am I doing what makes me happy? That's motivating for me. Not money, not fame. That's why that 6-9 family time is pretty inviolate and I tend to spend all my time with them on the weekends. Ultimately, my family makes me happier than my side project so they get the majority of my time and thought. But that side project is always waiting to be worked on. ( =