I agree. This leads to burnout and it is not a pattern for a lengthy or successful career. I had to recently take time off in order to recharge from burnout... avoid getting to that point at all costs!
A have a couple friends who work dawn until dusk for their startup. After several months they struggled with depression and managing their work life. After a little over a year they've adjusted and it's just routine.
I can sympathize, as this recently provoked myself to take a vacation for my mental health to recover. I went to an island with horrible internet and phone service and disconnected.. this helped me restore the fragile work/life balance I require. ^
60 hours weeks aren't sustainable, but just look at teams during crunch weeks. They sure get a lot of work done.
Sometimes you've just got to put the hours and effort in to get the work done on time.
Now I quit very quickly after doing stupid hours a week. But I'd like to think the work produced was fine. Not that much different to a normal week. The work was all planned in detail, there weren't any big surprises, just lots of code to type in, lots of tests to write and run. I was just more tired.
