Maj has been working for the last two days on a big demo Web site, so I've been making my contribution in the home, as Quebec civil law says. I've been giving her more work time by acting as primary caregiver (PCG) and taking care of the baby during the day so she has more time to work.
I usually try to divide my work time into 4 10-hour blocks on Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri. On Wednesdays and on weekends, I try to dedicate myself to being a full-time Dad -- playing with Amita June, feeding her, dressing her, putting her down for naps, putting her to sleep at night. It's mostly to let Maj have some time to work -- she's doing 50% time on Wikitravel -- but it's also to give me a chance to be a more active participant in the baby's early life.
My brother Andy does about the same thing (although he takes Tuesdays off, not Wednesdays). I was pretty impressed when I heard that he was doing it, and I thought it would be a great way to structure my time, too.
Of course, this is all kind of theoretical -- with a project like Wikitravel, I need to check the site for at least an hour a day every day, no matter what. And if there's some particular work that needs to be done, I've never been able to say, "I'm off the clock," and just ignore it. The Internet never sleeps, and neither does an international project like Wikitravel.
But at least in theory I'm trying to spread out my time so I can focus work time on work and home time at home.
tags: wikitravel amitajune maj work schedule
Old and new
There's been a lot of talk in Montreal about the relaunch of P45, the weekly magazine that moved from paper to the Web. I think the new P45 looks pretty good, and I guess it's got some sass.
But I'm more interested in the re-launch of veteran Quebec Webzine Hystérie. Hystérie has the kind of edgy feel that you actually get from being marginal and independent. It's been making guffaws in Quebec for something like 7-8 years now, with a recent redesign and re-vitalization.
I'm not sure what to think about it. I wish P45 luck, but at the same time there's something I don't like about quitters, even if they do come back from the dead. Hystérie's never quit; it's true Web. I like that.