I'm on a very quiet marathon to build twelve startups in twelve months, I'm in my third month and everything is on track so far. I will blog about it all when I hit six months in. My day job is a Technical Architect for a PLC in the UK. I also run between 5km and 10km everyday to train for an actual marathon (running). Add to that being a husband and a father... and a blogger now ;) I really wanted to tell that story, and for it not appear arrogant on my part.

Great post. Really enjoyed and empathized with you. Btw, 12 start-ups in 12 months? That's pretty impressive. However how about building one start-up per month, then if one takes off focusing on the project that as the most momentum? That may be a better winning formula, don't you think so? I'd also like to know how you fit the running, parenting, etc. in your schedule! You must be scarily efficient...

That's what I'm doing, one startup per month - over 12 months. I should have ellaborated really but I don't want to share much at this stag. After six-months I should have proved whether I can do it or not

Please share your scheduling tips! How do you fit all of that in?

First Hack: Live close to work (I run home) - this will give you more time in the mornings and evenings

Second Hack: Have an understanding wife (she's either running her own business or catching up on soaps in the evening)

Third Hack: Send children to bed at a strict time (7pm - it's good for them and you because it establishes a routine)

Fourth Hack: Be focussed, if you're doing something - just do that one thing and do it well at any one time - monotask!

Fifth Hack: Know your stuff - eleven years programming has given me a plethora of skills to draw on

Sixth Hack: Know when to stop - you're going to get burned out, you need to smell when this is going to happen and give yourself a break - remind yourself what life is about.

A typical day goes like this: Wake up, go to work, home for dinner, back to work, run home, shower, play with son, work hard (and eat), sleep - rinse and repeat. I pepper that day with talking to my wife.

Routine is helpful - I'll find that I have sprints of three weeks being incredibly productive, then I'll burn out - recharge - and throw myself back in.

> Fourth Hack: Be focussed, if you're doing something - just do that one thing and do it well at any one time - monotask!

Monotask. I've never heard that before. I like it.

That's how my brain works.

At what time do you come home/start working? I'm living next to work, but with 8 hours to work I don't have much time to do anything else.. start around 9, work until around 6pm (8hours + 1hour lunch) that doesn't leave much time

Request a shorter lunch - there's research out there to say that taking a long lunch makes you less productive in the afternoon.

Also, do something physical for your lunch - even if it's just walking to a shop and back.

Your evenings matter, yes you'll be more productive in the mornings but you have to go to work. The sooner you finish work, the more time you have to relax before you start work again.

I'd also ask about starting earlier or working from home or flexitime.

If you can afford the time on weekends try and work in the mornings.

I'd also force yourself to have a night or two off every week.

Build a routine, your body-clock will change and it may start to exhaust you if you change too many things too fast. So expect to work at a slower pace until you've refined your routine.

Regarding your fourth hack, how do you keep yourself on the task at hand? I tell myself that if I don't know it now, I'll have to do it later anyway, but I still find myself "wandering through the Internet".

If I'm wandering through the internet, it means I'm being unproductive and my body doesn't want to work. Whether I'm willing to accept it or not, I'm burned out or about to be burned out if I am in that situation. So take the night off.

Also, I'd recommend just having one news source, I can spend hours trolling The Register, SomethingAwful, HN, FunnyJunk, Reddit - but at the end of the day the only news that matters (to me) is HN.

Additionally, reading HN (constantly) has helped me refine my writing style to the tastes of HN.

I think it's called mono-tasking, do one thing and do it well at any one time.

Don't forget to take note when your body/mind gets tired, running & excercise will help you get more energy. But there will be times where you might just want to play XBOX, or eat, or troll the internet - all are signs of burnout. Mono-task to recovery.

I say this because I've done it before, I've told myself "Hey I'm not burned out, I'll just read this thread and at the same postulate that SQL query"... you just burn out faster.

You've re invigorated my desire to work on my startup, get myself and my life into shape and work on everything. Thank you so much for your advice, I appreciate it.

Remembering my childhood, the Third Hack seems challenging.

They're all challenging hacks. I have this quote by Randy Pausch visible all the time on my computer:

"The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people."

You have to try, and you have to be persistent