I will begin with what I do. I have a full time job and I work on a personal project on my spare time. Of course with all this work the risk of burnout is big, as I already experienced in the past: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1545774

I can tell you how I manage right now. I'm 20 minutes biking from work, and usually 15 minutes from anywhere else. Biking saves me a lot of commuting time, because I don't have to rely on public transportation. Here in Amsterdam I can bike where I want and it's much faster than taking a tram. Moreover it's healthy, so I can keep fit during the week too.

I start working at 9, but I wake up at 6, so each morning I get a couple of hours to work on my project. This implies of course that I have to go to sleep early in the evening, so I usually go to bed at 10 to have the sufficient amount of sleep, which is crucial to stay productive.

I'm now in the proceeds to buy a house. The main reasons to buy a house still apply, but I have some more: living in my own house will mean I will not have to deal with a landlord, which is making me lose a lot of time right now. Moreover when I will be living alone, I will pay someone to clean the house instead of doing it myself. I value my time more than the money cleaners ask and I'm willing to spend money to get back time. Washing machine for clothes, dishwasher for dishes and I don't iron clothes at all (if you learn how to hang them it's almost useless).

To avoid the burnout, I made up some rules: no work in the evenings, so when I go home from work and I'm tired I don't have the pressure of doing something on myself and I can spend those 2 spare hours after dinner relaxing (reading a book or some hobby). On friday I dance tango, on weekends I usually work on my project but still I go to parties or out with friends. Sometimes I go on a trip somewhere. I go running for one hour every weekend, to keep fit, release stress and clear my mind. This all helps to avoid burnout and stress.

How do you tune your life?