Maybe not just for the nocturnal hacker, probably for everyone.

TLDR; Increase your available time in the evenings. Increase your energy. Avoid burnout. Have an understanding wife/partner. Get a routine. Monotask. Plan your time and lower your expectations... but not necessarily in that order.

There was some discussion on HackerNews about how I keep up a moderately intensive and consistent workload outside of my regular 9 to 5 job  - I've been doing this for a few years now and it's helped me to get back on track with projects at work, do freelance projects on the side and hack on things in the evenings. I've found that these hacks work really well for me, but it goes without saying that your mileage will vary.

First Hack: Increase your available time in the evenings

This is probably the easiest hack here, it makes sense that if you want to work in the evenings then you should give yourself as long as you possibly can to do that work. You can start by trying to move closer to work so that your commute is a ten minute drive (or shorter). If you can get closer to work, great! A shorter commute means less time getting stressed in rush-hour traffic so you can be home earlier. Also, if you can take a shorter lunch or change your hours to start earlier and finish earlier, that's going to give you more time in the evenings too. That's really a bit of a cheat because if you have to wake up earlier then you also have to go to sleep earlier, which is actually a healthier thing to do.

What I do: I take advantage of this by going home for dinner to spend some extra time with my wife, and then again in the evenings to run home everyday - which leads us nicely onto the second hack.

Second Hack: Increase your energy (and enthusiasm)

Let's assume everything else in your life is perfectly balanced at this moment, but when you get home you can't think of anything worse than to sit in front of your laptop and start working all over again? I agree, what kind of life would that be? There's research out there to suggest that a forty-hour working week is about the average limit of what we can do before productivity drops. Additionally, you may read things that say you can only manage short bursts of extra work before burning out - all of this is true, but you can hack your way to prolonged productivity. And I'm going to be very general and say that you need to improve your energy-levels - this is completely subjective and I'm way too pragmatic and cynical to start spouting crap about taking up yoga or drinking herbal teas.

In short, do whatever works for you.

If you're a hacker, then A/B test a few things out. When you're about to start working in the evening, record how energetic/lively you feel on a calendar - do this for a few weeks since it will be your control-data to compare your tests against. Then try a few weeks of moderate running whilst still recording data on the calendar, followed by a rest-period, and then maybe a few weeks of cycling, tai-chi, playing xbox... whatever works. If you're consistent and persistent you'll figure out what works for you.

What I do: I run 3.5km everyday after work - when I started running I would come home craving carbs and typically be a bit lethargic - this was just an initial hump where my body was adapting to my altered routine. After a few weeks I could run further (and faster) and then recover in between five to ten minutes - and typically I now feel like I'm going to explode with energy after a good run.

Another big thing I do is avoid caffeinated drinks and vitamins, basically avoid anything that claims it will increase your energy and alertness, because it typically won't. These are usually short term measures that will burn you out faster. Drinking a can of red-bull might make you feel great for a few hours, but at the end of those few hours you're going to feel like shit and perhaps crave another one.

I also eat fruit (sometimes fresh, sometimes dried) and I sleep with earbuds in. Getting good sleep is (for me) really important - it means I can have a deeper sleep and go to sleep faster - good quality sleep is probably the top thing that's going to make you think straighter and more clearly the following day.

Third Hack: Avoid burnout

You are going to burnout, it's innevitable and you need to accept it, since it can't be avoided you need to hack your way around it.

Firstly, learn to recognise burnout - it can happen anywhere at anytime - if you're sat there thinking of writing some SQL but Reddit just seems so much more appealling then you're burned out. Basically if you recognise some part of your work as being really mentally taxing, more taxing than usual, then that's your brains way of saying "I need a rest" and typically you'll just involuntarily do something else that your brain thinks is much less taxing, like making a pot of coffee, or watching TV, or playing the XBox or whatever it is that isn't work.

Secondly, once you've recognised burnout you need to overcome it and fastest way to do that is just to embrace it - you can try to fight it, but you're body will invariably win. If you embrace your burnout the best thing to do is probably go straight to sleep. Also, you need to be really mindful of why you burned out and make a log of it. It's possible that it was a bad day at work, or you had a stressful drive home - if you make a log of it you can then make an effort to avoid being in that situation again.

What I do: Relax often and use it to spend more time with my wife and son - does this mean that they only see me when I'm burned out? Nope, my reflexes to being burned out are now hair-trigger sensitive, so there's not much difference between me being alert and me being very very slightly burned out, plus time with people is a good way to recharge.

Fourth Hack: Have an understanding wife/partner

If you're single, then obviously this rule doesn't apply.

If you're going to sneak off and hack things in the evenings/night and you have a wife/partner, then it's going to be pretty annoying for them - sure you can tell yourself that when Widget XYZ is complete and has acheived global domination then you're going to shower your loved ones with riches and affection. Unfortunately life doesn't work like that, you need to be anchored to the here-and-now and appreciate those around you - otherwise when Widget XYZ is complete there will be no-one there to shower with riches and affection.

If you facilitate them doing what they love, they can facilitate you in doing what you love - makes sense right? Get your wife/partner passionate about something that they too can explore in their free time, you never know. you might even find an overlap between your interests. Perhaps you like building 3D printers? Well maybe your wife/partner has always craved to make 1/12th scale dolls-houses... voila a beautiful overlap has been born - now your wife/partner can take delight in your ability to produce a plethora of 1/12th scale 3D printed furniture on demand.

What I do: My wife used to watch soaps on TV, that's not very appealing to me - so I'd sit there bored playing with my devices. Now we both do what we love, she's actually sat behind me now painting hand-crafted gifts for a number of customers for her shops on Etsy and Ebay - I helped her promote her business across social-media and I also have an eye for design - so that's our overlap and it works great. When one of us is a bit bored we'll watch a film together or just talk/drink like we did when we first met. Personally, I think TV can cause such a drift in relationships, years can pass where two people don't actually have a healthy or productive conversation because of the distraction it provides - think of all the books that haven't been written because TV is distracting the authors.

Fifth Hack: Routine

There was a time when I hated the thought of routine and loved the idea of spontaneity - for the first three hacks to be successful you need to adopt the exact opposite attitude - consistency will make it easier to be persistant, and persistancy will lead to success.

A typical routine might go like this: wakeup at 7:15am, start work for 8am, run home from work at 4:30pm, rest and enjoy time with family until 7pm, work from 7pm until 11pm.

It may sound slightly drudgerous, but if you wrote down your current routine it would probably look equally (or more) drudgerous, so don't be scared by it. Also consider that you're not going to spend every night working, you can give yourself time off (especially if you can feel burnout coming on) - combine that with the knowledge that you'll be becoming more alert/energetic and that you'll be spending better-quality time with your wife/partner and it now sounds a bit more appealling.

What I do: Wakeup at 7:15am, start work for 8am, run home from work at 4:30pm, rest and enjoy time with family until 7pm, work from 7pm until 11pm - it's not drudgerous at all and I take quite a bit of time off. Additionally, my wife now has her own business because of this which has been a massive confidence booster for her. Personally, we also put our son to bed at a consistent time every night - it's good for him and us. I should also mention that weekends are typically a random mix for me depending on what my friends and family are upto.

Sixth Hack: Monotask!

If you've gotten through the first five hacks successfully, then you should now have a nice empty slot of high-energy free-time available in the evenings and a pretty good knowledge of how to deal with burnout and interruptions. Some of my friends are naturally in this position but complain that they still can't build up a good pace of work.

Monotasking is the idea of embracing that humans typically are shit at multi-tasking, even the long-standing rule that women are natural multi-taskers is flawed. Why? Because you're one person with one brain and it takes effort to switch between activities, even if they're trivial activities.

Consider this: You're on a hacking role (in the zone), ideas are coming thick and fast until suddenly and without warning a family member demands your attention or starts talking very matter-of-factly - there's a good chance you can't do both things at once - and if you can, congrats! you're part of the 2% of the humanity that can do this. If you can't perfectly do both things at once, then it's going to take some mental effort to get back on track when the conversation is over.

It takes effort because you were thinking deeply, and it's hard to return to that state. Deep thinking usually requires solitude, that's why open-plan offices typically have less productive staff - people can't deep think, or if they do then it won't last for very long.

The idea of monotasking, is basically, at any given time, do one thing, and do that one thing really well. If you're going to hack, do not do it on a laptop, listening to music on your headphones, with Reddit open in your browser and a TV in the background with another family member in the room and the dog at your feet... you'll get nothing done like that. Instead, remove the distractions - turn off your smartphone - put the tablet away - find a quiet place - turn off any applications with notifications (like Skype or Trillian) - I might even go so far as to say unplug the internet, but it depends on what you're doing.

There's a great TED talk here

What I do: Wear noise cancelling headphones and listen to a familiar playlist that isn't distracting when working. I also tend to monotask for most things, including talking and listening, which doesn't always work out great because I just focus on one person. I've found that monotasking can be helpful when I'm interrupted with work, for example if someone starts talking whilst I'm concentrating - I make one big context-switch and immediately pay attention to the person talking - for me, it's better than trying to work/talk/think at the same because I'm not dividing my attention.

Seventh Hack: Plan your time

A short but good hack. If you have a block of time devoted to work, then it makes sense to know what you'll be doing during that time - it doesn't have to be an exact plan and don't worry if you can't get it all done in the time you've allocated... there's always tomorrow.

What I do: Chart my progress on a calendar, and at the end of each day chart the things I didn't do. That way I can hit the ground running the next day

Eighth Hack: Lower your expectations

It can be fun to day-dream and wonder what might come from your next big project, this might give you a sense of urgency or the idea that you need to move fast before your enthusiasm runs low. If you feel like this you need to remind yourself that there's no need to rush, Rome wasn't built in a day. I don't know about you but when I rush things the end result is always a little disappointing. Taking it slow can actually be a benefit, it might give you more time to network, find beta-testers and consider marketing strategies.

What I do: I tell myself that whatever I'm working on isn't going to make an immediate difference to my life right now, but with enough baby steps and enough time - maybe I can build something that matters.