How do you Balance Life and Writing

This was a question posed on Nathan Bransford's (author and former literary agent) blog.
Balance for mosr any writers is a challenge for sure. I believe it is a very difficult thing to get a good grip on especially on those days when the chacters in my head are clammoring so loud to have their story told, then it is even harder to ignore. But, life must come first. Chidren, school, work, dishes, laundry...All must be tended to before I can drift away to world unknown. Sonedays I am good at this, others not so much. I try to spend my days doing all the nessessary life things and then once dinner is done, the kids are fed and tucked in for the night, I can fall into my own world and give those characters the voice they have been begging for all day. Unfortunatly, that often makes for extremely late nights and going to bed at two a.m. when you have to get up at six makes for a long day...