I once met a PhD student in mathematics who was working on the mathematics of string theory. We went out for a beer in one of the standard, alternative places for going out in the 90s in Berlin. He was unusually happy about it and told me why. For the past four years he was never going out, got up at seven o'clock in the morning, drank only moderate amounts of tea (never coffee), and studied and worked on problems until the evening. He had only a short lunch break, he told me, and avoided anything that would make him loose focus. He lived together with a flat mate who did essentially the same thing.

Needless to say he was insanely smart, maybe the smartest person I've ever met.

Anyway, he was overdoing the daily routine, he confessed to me, and missing out on too many other things. I wonder whether he stayed in mathematics, but don't remember the name.

Moral of the story (I suppose): If you want to achieve great things early in your life, routine and a distraction free environment is important. But keep it in a sane equilibrium with social life and find people to occasionally talk about other topics than your work.