Perhaps some of these thoughts of mine will be useful for you. I have a 10 year old step-daughter who I have been raising since she was 3 and a 3 year old son.
For me, hands down, the most important thing I have done is try my hardest to maintain a solid, loving relationship with my wife. Without inspiring each other to be better parents, without the support we provide to each other, we could never flourish as parents/professionals/etc.
Things definitely get better as they get older. When they are able to entertain themselves, are no longer attached to your hip 24/7, it is much easier to start finding time for hobbies, side-projects, etc.. Of course a balance needs to be found here - you don't want to miss out on quality-time with your kids.
Going to bed/getting up early can add a few extremely productive hours to your day. I find that pretty much nothing productive happens for me after 9:00 PM. Of course, that's just me and plenty of people find late night hours very productive.
Try your best to stay healthy. Diet and exercise are often put on the back burner when times get busy. It can be tempting to skip sleep in favor of getting a few extra hours in. When it comes down to it though, if you're a mess you will not be effective.
I've found it useful to have friends with similar interests that have children. I'm not sure if this is widely applicable or not. I started raising my daughter when I was 22 and it was a very sudden change from care-free recent college grad to parent with a ton of responsibility, so I lost many of my friends as I struggled to find balance among my overwhelming responsibilities. My current friends that are parents, who share similar interests and manage to succeed in many different aspects of life, keep me motivated .
For me, hands down, the most important thing I have done is try my hardest to maintain a solid, loving relationship with my wife. Without inspiring each other to be better parents, without the support we provide to each other, we could never flourish as parents/professionals/etc.
Things definitely get better as they get older. When they are able to entertain themselves, are no longer attached to your hip 24/7, it is much easier to start finding time for hobbies, side-projects, etc.. Of course a balance needs to be found here - you don't want to miss out on quality-time with your kids.
Going to bed/getting up early can add a few extremely productive hours to your day. I find that pretty much nothing productive happens for me after 9:00 PM. Of course, that's just me and plenty of people find late night hours very productive.
Try your best to stay healthy. Diet and exercise are often put on the back burner when times get busy. It can be tempting to skip sleep in favor of getting a few extra hours in. When it comes down to it though, if you're a mess you will not be effective.
I've found it useful to have friends with similar interests that have children. I'm not sure if this is widely applicable or not. I started raising my daughter when I was 22 and it was a very sudden change from care-free recent college grad to parent with a ton of responsibility, so I lost many of my friends as I struggled to find balance among my overwhelming responsibilities. My current friends that are parents, who share similar interests and manage to succeed in many different aspects of life, keep me motivated .