I'm about to start a PhD in Computer Science. Obviously everybody will have different experiences but I'm working what the sort of 'average' working week, for those in and outside of this subject area, really is. I currently work a full time position as a standard 9-5 job. I hear horror stories all the time that I'll need to commit way more than that to the extent of including evenings, weekends, giving up on a social life, etc. Are there some happier stories than the dire ones I read online?

It's not all about long hours.

In my first year I worked more like 10 to 5 and half of that was coffee, lunches and training sessions. In years 2 and 3 I worked maybe one or two evenings a week and maybe two saturday's a month (but that was because I was making up time from not working hard enough in the week). In my 4th year I worked every evening and weekend because I spent a lot of time in the week earning money in the department because I was unfunded in my 4th year.

Not everyone on here agrees but I still think a PhD is an easy life compared to jobs where I have worked 8-7 every day for 9-5 pay.

You just have to know when to pick up the pace and when to take it easy.