When I worked at my first startup, I worked probably 10-12 hour days. I would show up at 8am and and work until 8pm, with a 15-30 minute lunch break to one of t

When I worked at my first startup, I worked probably 10-12 hour days. I would show up at 8am and and work until 8pm, with a 15-30 minute lunch break to one of the nearby restaurants. One day my boss put me on support engineer duties (I suppose I broke too many things and he wanted to teach me a lesson.) Every day, I would log into the system and see 20 tickets that I needed to address. I'd fix each bug, then report the fix to the Customer Support team, who would then notify the customer that their issue had been fixed. As the day went on, new bugs would come in, and I'd fix those as well. I always got to inbox zero every single day. I did this for about 6 months. About halfway through that six month stint, I had -- wonder of wonders -- a date, and so one fateful Wednesday evening, I left at 6pm instead of 8pm, so I could get ready for my date. I was very anxious, because I still had 4 tickets left, and a fifth one just came in right as I was walking out the door. But... you know, date. So I come back in the next morning, and I had 24 tickets on my plate, and I fixed them and more tickets came in, and I fixed those... And not a single person noticed that those four tickets were "late." That's when I had my epiphany: nobody truly expects you to work outside 9-5. If a business partner or customer sends you an email at 5pm, they aren't expecting a response until the next business day. You don't need to respond to things at 8pm. On top of that, there's _always_ more work. You will never, ever, ever run out of work. There's always more to do. I took that lesson and I ran with it. I started coming in at 8-ish and leaving around 6ish, and I started dating more and going to movies and enjoying my life more. Nobody noticed or even cared. Our customers were still happy, and my boss never said anything (in fact, I got promoted shortly after that 6 month stint, so I must have done something right!). So my advice to you: work 9-5. Don't work any longer than that. It's just a job. If your job has a problem with you working only normal business hours, find another job. There are a million out there. It doesn't matter whether you're in academia or corporations, there are company that are totally fine with 9-5, and there are other companies that expect overtime. Just find the right ones for you. Your analysis is absolutely correct: life is short. Go enjoy it. I wish you the best of luck and that your life is fulfilling and joyful.