9 to 5, 5 to 9

Several months ago, I heard a prominent children's media executive speak. Did I take away invaluable information about how to make a children's show or how to get a children's media job? Not really. The piece I remember most is what he said when asked about his family--he replied (I'm paraphrasing here) that what he did from 9 to 5 would never be more important than what he did from 5 to 9.
 
These days, my 9 to 5 is more like 8 to 10, with an hour and a half travel on each end, which could throw a huge monkey wrench into the 5 to 9 thing. Or it could just make the hours that are left really valuable ones.
 
For much of a year, my 9 to 5 was a conglomeration of networking coffees and addiction to LinkedIn. 5:00 (3:00, really) became both my close of business and my salvation. It was easy to focus on the homefront, since I was home to experience it. Now, the challenge is to carve out the sense of 5 to 9, even if I am not physically with my family for all those hours. That's what I think the speaker meant--not necessarily being home for a 5:30pm family dinner and an 8:30am family breakfast (I'm not sure much of anyone in NYC does that), but being present for our spouses and kids, and making home a priority, even when work is all-consuming.
 
My early morning and late night trains are not going to change, and that's okay. My commitment to helping get the soaps online is not change either, again okay. As long as when I'm readying cameras all day and riding trains at 7 and 11, I'm thinking about 5 to 9. And making the most of whatever part of it I've got.