<p>This particular course 16 professor (he of the '83 SB/SM and '85 PhD) was, at least for a time, on a modified schedule so he could work more often – I think it was that he was on a 28-hour day or something. Even now, he works really hard: he’s never married, and he often sleeps in his office. Sometimes we see him in LaVerde’s. We think maybe all he eats is apples.</p>
<p>Really phenomenally productive scientists and engineers tend to be able to work incredibly hard for years at a time, and to be uninterested in work/life balance. It’s not the choice everybody wants to make, but not everybody gets a Nobel Prize. Or tenure.</p>
<p>EDIT:
And one thing many people don’t understand about grad school is that it’s not really time-based or course-based the way high school or undergrad is. You more or less graduate when your thesis committee says you can graduate. It might take two years. It might take twelve.</p>