My plan to avoid hyperfocus and keep a healthy work pace (as a dad of two)
Hi, it's Takuya here.
As I wrote in my previous post, I recently pushed myself too hard with my indie SaaS dev work and ended up burning out.
One of the main reasons was my tendency to hyperfocus.
When I get absorbed in something, I tend to lose sight of everything else — sometimes even my personal life.
To avoid repeating the same mistake, I’ve decided to redesign how I work.
Don’t rely on others to tell you to stop
As a freelancer and indie developer, I have full control over how I spend my time.
That’s a double-edged sword, where I can work as much as I want, but there’s no one to stop me when I go too extremely.
My wife works in a different field, so she can’t really tell how intense my work pace is.
If I say I’m tired, she’ll tell me to take a break, but she doesn’t interfere with how I manage my time.
That means I can’t rely on anyone else to pull the brakes — I have to be my own guardrail.
(Though I’m considering to have a therapist to get some professional perspective regularly.)
With two kids, strict routines don’t work anymore
It feels great to organize your day down to the minute — I used to love that.
But now, with my second daughter recently born, keeping a perfectly structured schedule just isn’t realistic.
So instead of sticking to rigid time blocks like “15 minutes of X after waking up,” I’m choosing flexibility.
As a father of two, I need to adapt my day around the family’s rhythm.
Walk 10,000 steps a day
After burning out, I realized how crucial health is.
Now in my 40s, I can’t rely on youth anymore.
If I want to keep doing indie development for as long as I can, I need to prioritize health and stamina.
I’ve had atopic dermatitis for years, and I’ve noticed it improves when I walk a lot.
Luckily, my legs are fine, my eyes work, and my hearing is good — so I’ve decided to make 10,000 steps my daily goal.
Walking also helps my mental state — it relaxes me, sparks new ideas, boosts serotonin, and improves sleep.
So my rule is simple: if the destination is within 30 minutes, I’ll walk.
So, I’d like to go places on foot if the destination is within 30 minutes.
In the mornings, I walk around the park and head to a café in the next town.
I even go to the supermarket on foot instead of by bike.
From experience, I’ve learned that if I don’t hit 5,000 steps by noon, the afternoon gets tough — pacing matters.
Don’t forget to exercise every day
Playing with kids or filming videos both require physical strength.
So I do light strength training daily. Here is my typical routine:
Morning routine:
- 50 squats
- 50 push-ups
- 20 dumbbell curls
- 20 shoulder presses
- 10 scap raises
Before bed, I add:
- 50 leg raises (abs)
- 100 back extensions
There’s no deep reason behind these numbers — it’s just what feels sustainable.
Also, excercise helps distract me from itching when my skin flares up.
Mornings are for marketing, ideas, and free exploration
With the basics set, let’s plan out how I spend my day.
After dropping my daughter off at kindergarten, I start by walking around the park to take in the season — about 2,000 steps.
After dropping my daughter off at kindergarten, I start by walking around the park, taking in the sights and sounds of the season — about 2,000 steps.
Then I grab my laptop or iPad mini and walk 15–20 minutes to a café (usually Starbucks).
Cafés are great for creativity, because the people, the sounds — they make me feel connected to the world.
Even a short chat with the barista can lift my mood.
So in the mornings, I focus on marketing tasks, content ideas, or just free exploration.
No strict plans — I follow my curiosity.
Reading a book would be also nice.
Afternoons are for coding and user support
I'd like to work on tasks that require focus and energy in the afternoon, like coding, customer support, and other tasks that need deep concentration.
Home is the best place for that.
I can sing out loud if I feel like during the tasks.
I usually work until around 5 p.m., when my daughter gets home from preschool.
Sometimes I wrap up early to take a short walk — it helps cool my head before family time.
I don’t want to bring that “wired” energy into the evening.
I’m in charge of cooking, so I make dinner — usually something simple based on what I feel like eating.
I try to keep it to one soup and one dish, a meal style called Ichiju-issai(一汁一菜).
Both cooking and grocery shopping help me unwind and prevent hyperfocus.
Work only four days a week — keep one day solely for myself
Right before I burned out, what I lacked most was mental space.
I poured all my energy into app development and had no time to pause and reflect.
So now, I’m setting aside one day a week to do things unrelated to the app — basically, a day off.
Weekends are for family, so I’ll take a solo day off during the week — probably Wednesday for now.
But I’ll stay flexible.
This day is like watering a plant — giving myself time to breathe.
It’s fine to do nothing at all.
I might go on a short day camping trip, visit a museum, or just watch videos and read.
Looking outward like this helps prevent tunnel vision and burnout.
Will this slow down development?
Development isn’t everything — I’ve always dedicated about half of my time to marketing anyway.
So overall, the weekly balance won’t change much.
What does “development pace” mean in the first place?
I’d rather release high-quality updates at a sustainable rhythm than rush something out while feeling anxious and narrow-minded.
This is all about building a lifestyle that lets me keep doing this long-term.
Ultimately, my app users will decide if it works or not.
I’m building a note-taking app surrounded by big competitors.
As an indie developer, I can’t win by competing the same way large companies do.
The key is to find areas they wouldn't do — to differentiate by not fighting the same battles.
That requires keeping my mind open and constantly exploring new things.
My wife is still in the hospital as of this writing, and I am in the midst of a chaotic one-person parenting situation.
Also, since it will be a special operation even during my family visit, I cannot spend my days as described above.
However, the most important thing is to work at a healthy pace and to enjoy doing it while maintaining mental and physical health.
If I can maintain that, anything is fine.
I should be flexible.
Thanks for reading. Inkdrop is a Markdown-focused note-taking app for developers. I’ve been developing it for over eight years now. If you’re looking for a notes app, check it out:
