I don't have much to add having never been in a r/l situation, but wanted to say thanks to everyone for the great advice (and great question phantasy). I have a wake up at 6, home by 9, stressful type of job myself and I can imagine this being an obstacle when/if (hopefully) I get to pursue this in r/l.

Another, somewhat related thing is, how to quickly tame the bad attitude I come home with on a regular basis. It usually takes me an hour and a glass of wine to decompress....