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I guess I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of work/family balance - yeah, I love my family more than anything, and will do anything for them....which sometimes means working insane hours to do what I need to for them.
A few years ago John Allin (probably the largest snow plowing contractor in the US, if not the world) told me that I should work to achieve a balance. So I asked him how many hours he put in every week. 80-90 was the reply. I said "Yeah, practice what you preach." I walked away from that conversation with the belief that in anything there have to be sacrifices - work long and hard, sacrificing some time with family (but hopefully providing more for them in the process). Spend more time with the family, sacrificing some time spent on the business (possibly providing a little less for them in the process).
I'm sure there are people out there who are better managers than I am, and can get more done in less time. But I've found that other than the burnout that happens sometime in July-August every season, I don't need much away time to keep chugging away at what we need to do. I enjoy it quite a bit (most of the time).
So I guess what I'm saying is do what you need to do for your situation. You may be in a spot where you need more time with the fam - you oughta do that. You might be in a spot where if you don't make hay, the family doesn't eat - in that case, put sleep and every other luxury on hold for awhile and get crackin'.
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