I wake up full of energy when the alarm goes at 6.30am. I put the kettle on, get my two eldest children out of bed, then my husband. Thomas wakes at the same time as everyone else. I have earl grey tea and prepare breakfast. Then I’ll take a peek at the computer to see if anything mega-urgent came in overnight, like a complaint from someone who is threatening to sue us over an entry he believes is slanderous.

I’m a minimalist as far as personal grooming goes; there’s not much point when you’ve got mud in the garden. The main thing is getting my husband and older children out at 7.30 in time for school. When they’ve gone I crawl back to bed with Thomas and his bottle, and we go back to sleep. That’s wonderful.

I’ll be at the computer from 9.30 onwards. Wikipedia has 6m entries now; it’s available in 249 languages and 280,000 people visit it every minute. I’m the chairwoman of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit charity that manages Wikipedia. I don’t need much equipment — I have a five-year-old iBook laptop in the sitting room and a phone. The desk in the sitting room is my space. The sun streams in and I can see the Puy-de-Dôme volcano in the distance. Thomas is free to crawl around.

I discovered Wikipedia in 2001, the year it was launched by Jimmy Wales, the Californian who came up with the idea for an online encyclopedia. I started by contributing to articles about genetic engineering and the war in Iraq. It’s fabulous that you can write about anything you like and people out there will read it. Anyone’s free to change entries and if you don’t like the changes they make, fine, you’ve got a debate going. It’s addictive, and beats watching TV. We haven’t got one, by the way.

Lots of people think Wikipedia is total anarchy, but it isn’t. We have rules to settle conflicts, editorial principles, and a structure to run the whole thing. I’m completely allergic to sites that are biased and try to manipulate people, and Wikipedia has to stay completely neutral. My job is to make sure things run smoothly — I’m a guardian, basically.

Mornings are quiet because only the Europeans are awake. But there’s always lots to do — all sorts of legal, financial and management problems. I’ll write up the minutes of the last board meeting. I try to impose one every six weeks; the last one was in Rotterdam. I don’t mind working for free. I’ve had a third child, so it’s like taking a career break.

I’ll break off for lunch if Bertrand drops by, otherwise I have nothing or grab a salad or some cheese. Thomas has his feed, then while he’s having his nap at around 12.30 I’ll go out to my vegetable patch. I love to be out in the open air — the main thing is nobody’s bothering me. I used to have all sorts — beans, beetroots, leeks, peppers, courgettes, onions and tomatoes — but now I want to move towards things which are more efficient, which don’t need constant attention.

I’m back on the computer and the phone at 2pm, and there are more people around now, although America isn’t quite awake yet. We’re growing all the time. Two years ago we had almost no income; this year our budget will hit $6m. We receive donations but we need more money to pay for servers, among other things – we have 500 servers now. Advertising is out of the question: it’s a moral issue for us. So we’re seeking sponsorship from private companies, who could give us shares, and we’re going to ask the EU for subsidies.

I stop at 4 to fetch the children, and on the way back I often go to the supermarket. We’re back for 6 and I’ll go on the computer to see if someone needs me. We have dinner at 8.30 or 9. Bertrand cooks half the time — he’s a better cook than I am, he’s a creative type. But my cooking is much more efficient — I’ll make a soup with things from the vegetable patch, or pasta.

I know I use the word “efficient” a lot, but it’s a question of doing more in the time available. I’m not stressed, I’m just in a hurry. My dad died when he was 54 and I know several people who died early or when they reached retirement. They kept saying they’d do everything when they retired — painting, travelling, the piano, whatever — then bang, they die. I believe in carpe diem, seize the moment. I couldn’t bear to stay at home with a child who can’t talk to me, and have nothing else to do. But this is a pause in my working life — I’m doing something that’s fun and allows me to be with the kids. I don’t want to say at the end of my life: “I’ve brought three kids up, they’re all fine. It’s okay, I can die now.” I find that really limited. It’s possible one day I’ll be more proud of Wikipedia than of the kids. Wikipedia’s become a kind of child to me too. The kids sometimes complain I don’t spend enough time with them. And Bertrand was jealous of Wikipedia at first, but now he’s proud of me.

We try to have the kids in bed at 10 — that’s when the second part of my day starts. All America is there. We’ll have our board meetings on the chat from 10.30 to midnight. My husband goes to bed at 10 or 11. Around 1am the phone goes quiet and I get lots done. I’ll often keep going until 3 or 4, drinking earl grey or mint tea. When my head hits the pillow I fall asleep immediately. My nights are too short for dreams.

Interview: John Follain

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