My writing output is inversely proportional to how much I work. I think you'll find this true for most blogs. One blog idee fixe goes something like this:

"My god, I'm sorry I haven't written anything in a while, but I've been so busy with work, school, my lowly children. John at work called me a dipshit today and it stressed me out so much that I just HAD to get it off my chest in the form of this blog. I know that you probably stopped checking this blog cuz there hasn't been much new material, but I still expect you to see this and be into it. After all the world revolves around me, right?"

Writing the above is my way of saying, "golly I haven't written anything in a while." When that's really not what I want to say. Most of my output for the calendar year '03 occurs during time I've had off to recover from surgery. Leisurely time spent drinking coffee, re-reading books in my personal canon and fucking myself.

The best writers won't be thwarted by grueling work schedules. The strongest people are balanced enough to carry on several complex interests wholly unrelated to work. A notch below are those who are completely focused and obsessed with their work. A notch below that are those who need "aids" to consistently do their work--alcoholics, potheads, pill poppers. A notch below are those who can't consistently work--those who "can't hold down a job." The weakest people are our friends who can't work at all--crazy, well medicated people with fibromyalgia and other phantom disorders.

For mental imagery, the top-to-bottom list looks like this:

Strongest : Balanced. Several competing interests.
Second : Obsessed. Work dominates life.
Third : Aided. People "just trying to get through the day." All drugs, even medications.
Fourth : Bad workers. Can't hold down a job or profession usually because drug use gets out of control.
Weakest : Crazy people. Normal people on disability. 400 pound blobs. People with various disorders which aren't immediately apparent. If they're not immediately apparent, they're probably nonexistent.

It's easy to move up and down on the ladder of life. You could quite easily go from someone who takes pride in their life outside of work to someone who watches their hobbies and interests slowly fade as their work takes up more and more of their time. Conversely someone who has seemingly mastered their job can add interests without much difficulty. The same goes for the rest of the spectrum.