The article is a little sketchy but I can relate to the issue that is being put across here. I work a day job (as a systems analyst) that I'm quite passionate about, and my "side project" is as an artist / illustrator.

To get suitable stretches of uninterrupted time outside of a 9-10 hour day at work, I have to be militant about influence on both time and energy on any given day. The energy one is the hardest one to manage, and it involves cutting a lot of people out of my life, specifically the "draining" ones.

I used to be the kind of person that would invest a lot of energy in trying to get other people motivated or help them through hard times, then I realised I had nothing left to keep my own life moving forward.

I stagnated for a period of about 2 years then drew the line and cut off anyone that I found repeatedly crashing in on my life looking for support without doing a damned thing to help themselves.

At this point in life, professionally I'm achieving about 2x-3x what I used to but my personal life is abhorrent. It's a trade I'm willing to make but something that will need to be balanced out as I get older, as I'm already in a circumstance where I have few non-professional peers what so ever.

There is a hope. Be organized, consider your life needs very carefully if you have the maturity to do so, and schedule your time accordingly. Although there's creative benefits to "flying by the seat of one's pants", it can be a quite hazardous path.

Yup. For me, a 4 year relationship (out of 13 of off & on + a great friendship) ended in bitterness, in large part due to startup stress.

My solution so far has been to be a dork that women don't even want to talk to. >_<