Like many of my classmates, shortly after college, I joined the ranks of a top strategy and management consulting firm. I knew I was signing up for long hours, but the reality of that didn’t really sink until a few months in, when I asked for a vacation day to go to a friend’s wedding. My request was granted, sort of. My wife handled the long drive to the wedding, while I spent my “day off” in the passenger’s seat working furiously on my laptop, with occasional stops at cafes to recharge my computer and send emails via the free wifi. This pace continued for months – even on national holidays, I holed up in my apartment to work — and I began to wonder how long I could continue.