I honestly want to say thank you for sharing this with us. While I don't think my current job will really have that level of stress I'm terrified of it. It's not uncommon to hear about companies that are in perpetual crunch mode and it's hard not to feel like that is the way the software industry is moving. On top of that all I've really had modeled for me is improper work/life balance. My grandfather ran a small business so he was always at work early and always coming home late. This left an impression on my dad, so he was always gone to work before I got up to go to school, and then most of his evenings or weekends involved long stretches of time in front of his work laptop. I'm terrified that will become my behavior. My fiance and cats deserve better, but there are almost never stories like yours, where you said enough is enough, everyone agreed and you were (fingers crossed hopefully) able to actually achieve it.