It's not necessarily a very good idea (although death marches, used judiciously, do work) No they don't. Or that is: they sometimes work for your boss (or yo

It's not necessarily a very good idea (although death marches, used judiciously, do work) No they don't. Or that is: they sometimes work for your boss (or your customer), in the short run. But they don't work for you. And when push comes to shove, that's who you need to look for, right? There's no reason, other than a feeling that you're expiclity under the client (or employer's) thumb -- e.g. a short-term financial emergency; or you're feeling very early in your career, and that you can live without a shining reference from them, after you've made your way through the tunnel of pain they've laid out for you; or you just didn't vet the other party properly, and weren't aware of their manipulate (and perhaps sociopathic tendencies) -- to put up with death marches, ever. All you have to do (absent one of the above-mentioned emergencies) is say, "I'm sorry about the external pressures you're facing, but asking me to put in these hours this doesn't seem to be in line with the parameters we set up at the outset for this project/job. It's also just not going to be good for your working relationship, in the longer haul. So either you're going to need to find additional resources to help you, or I'm going to have to pass." It's not easy. But it's doable. And trust me, you'll respect yourself a lot more in the morning. For further guidance and inspiration on this topic, please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Ways_to_Leave_Your_Lover "The answer is easy if you take it logical-ly..."