Should entrepreneurs take vacations or work 24-7-365 on their startups?

It's an interesting question. Unfortunately it's not always up to us. I found out that I cannot control my ups and downs and that if I could (meaning, that I could have a steady rhythm of work every day) then I would accomplish a lot more. So I was looking for the solution on how to achieve more self control. I asked a friend of mine, who is a medical student and a very passionate person who loves what she's doing. She said something very simple, yet it somehow never occurred to me as clearly. She said that when she feels motivated she works 200% and that way she can afford the unpredictable "downs" without worrying too much.

Also, there's probably a correct observation that american culture may affect the judgement here. Entrepreneurial culture in US seems to cultivate this workaholic lifestyle, which I always envied. However I don't think that this culture is able to alter human psychology (and probably biology), and so some people who are naturally not inclined to have steady workaholic lifestyle and are trying to adopt it may, in fact, only suffer. For what it's worth, I am sure there are examples of both successful people who worked 7/356 and successful people who worked 200% one day and procrastinated the other day. There are even examples of successful people who worked less than it seems necessary. But I'd love to meet anyone who has ever worked 200% every day for at least a year non-stop and who became successful - that seems very unrealistic to me.

24 hours a day. 7 days a week. 365 weeks a... 7 years?