Typical day in the life of a physics grad student

[Mike H]

While I was a physical chem. grad student, most of the physics grad students that I knew reasonably well worked similar hours (at least 40 hours a week if you weren't on vacation, more typically about 60 hours.). In the first year, you've got classes, teaching, and trying to start on your research. In your second year, you've got maybe two or three classes you need to take (maybe they're either not offered every year or are followups to your first year material), some teaching, and needing to get more research done. And then you can start working insane hours at the end of your second year, since you've got all your requirements out of the way by then. I mean, it's really easy to walk into lab at 9 am and walk out at 11 pm since nothing went your way - I can't think of anyone who hasn't had days (or weeks) like that.

I mean, you can optimize your efficiency as much as possible, but things can and will go wrong in research, and you'll need to overcome those challenges, which may involve working more than you prefer.