What do you suppose would have happened, had you agreed to have dinner with your mother that night? I assume you imagine some nightmare scenario where you find

What do you suppose would have happened, had you agreed to have dinner with your mother that night? I assume you imagine some nightmare scenario where you find yourself living on the street begging for change and repeating to yourself over and over "Why did I take that evening off??? What was I thinking???" In reality, it probably isn't quite that critical. I suggest you try an experiment: Work an 8 hour day tomorrow. Don't make up for it by working 16 hours the next day. Work the rest of your week as normal, then look back and see if there is any noticeable negative ramification from that day of slacking. Then try ramping it up. Work a 60 hour week. Work a 50 hour week, god forbid. Living in a ditch yet? Good. Try 45 hours next week. As the people below are trying to tell you, most of this desperation is in your head. Yes, you need to work hard and deliver. But you don't need to kill yourself.