I work full-time (for now) and recently started back to a full-time course load in school. My job is pretty much just a 40 hour a week block of time that I trade to pay the bills, so I have to be as effective as possible when I get home.

My wife is a stay at home mom, and budding photographer. She is able to take care of the baby (nearing 2) during the day, handle doctor's visits, keep the house in line, and also cooks some nights. This is a tremendous help, and if you are in a situation where your wife can stay at home, I suggest trying it.

When Zoe first came home, we would take turns feeding/changing/holding/playing with her. Not just alternating each time but taking like 6 hour shifts. The off-duty person could then have a fairly large chunk of time to catch up on sleep, get large tasks done, etc. That was a huge help when the baby's feeding times are only hours apart and diapers are even closer. She slept quite a bit so I could still squeeze in a few e-mails or small tasks during naps. As she got older she no longer needed the constant attention, and enjoyed playing in the floor or pack and play for a while.

I hadn't heard of GTD at the time, so I was not taking full advantage of my time. Looking back, I could have made vast improvements just by having my next actions ready to go when I came off baby duty. Things like processing e-mail and inbox, brainstorming projects, reading reference materials, can all be done while the baby is sleeping, and even if s/he does wake up, you won't be in the middle of something that you can't put down. Get all your big tasks lined up and ready to go, so that when you do get your break you don't spend half of it figuring out what to do, or doing things that could just as easily be done during the baby's naps.

The big thing is that each of you need to understand that the other person's free time should be as interruption free as possible. This is not to say that you should run to other ends of the house, just be aware that your significant other might need some time alone to get things done. You might even work out a system to let the other person know when you need quiet time. Then if you know they are busy on something, ask yourself before interrupting if it would be important enough to interrupt you during your free time (sick, hurt, first anythings, etc.). If both sides don't take it seriously then one or both of you end up not getting anything done, and becoming frustrated.

We also stay on top of each others schedule, so if I need to go see about a potential job, my wife can watch the baby while I'm out, and vice-versa. We tried to be as structured as possible while remaining flexible enough to allow for un-expected changes.

Shay