chuckebaby
Recently I was in a rush and had to do a very quick mix. I did it much the way I used to it with my hands on the control surface faders using no automation. And guess what ?
It sounded lively and spontaneous. I quickly felt this sinking disgust: IE- I've been wasting my time feeling.
I've spent 8 hours mixing a 3 minute song but now all of a sudden I feel like I could probably get equal results in 2 hours or less. Most of that time spent on EQ and Compression.

Interesting. I've learned it the hard way. Been doing lots of plugin test and to save time I'd just do a quick-n-dirty adjustment to knobs and voila - it sounds just fine.  Thereafter I started doing my mixes that way and do like what I hear a lot more than diligently calibrated sessions in order to get a good sounding mix.

chuckebaby
Some awesome reply's here. Some good chuckles too.
The music in the past 10 years has been killing me. I did finally hear some I liked the other day on the radio.

 
I thought I was listening to the rebirth of Led Zeppelin and I love it.

Greta Van Fleet is certainly starting to get a following. I'm interested to see what these boys do next and if they continue to produce original tunes. After decades, finally a band that I am a little excited about. A couple of days ago I saw a clip of GVF playing with Elton John. Seems like some of the greats are starting to notice as well.

chuckebaby
Some awesome reply's here. Some good chuckles too.
The music in the past 10 years has been killing me. I did finally hear some I liked the other day on the radio.

 
I thought I was listening to the rebirth of Led Zeppelin and I love it.

Dawg-gone they do sound like a modern version of Zep.  Very good stuff.  One very cool thing about the 'net is that people like this can get exposure on forums like this.

Greta Van Fleet - From the Fires (Full Album)
 
It will be interesting to see how their sound develops.  Good stuff! 
 

chuckebaby
Im sure many of you are perfectionists like myself, not that I consider that a gift.. Its more like attention deficit disorder.

 
I find this not only applies to mixing, but also to the composition process. The temptation to tweak and perfect an 8 bar intro or verse before moving on has left me with a ton of unfinished material lying around. I never had this issue using tape. Forcing myself to stick to using GM or XG sounds during the writing process can help, but sometimes this just isn't practical (i.e. the material relies on or is "inspired" by a particular synth sound - or it's largely guitar based).
 
I was once advised when doing creative writing (e.g. lyrics, stories, sales-copies etc) to switch the monitor off when typing. This completely removes the temptation to correct yourself as you type, and stops you interrupting the creative flow. It's easy enough to go back and tidy things up afterwards. This technique works REALLY well....  if only I could find a musical equivalent!
 
M.

One of the best albums I've heard in the last couple of years was recorded (live off the floor) and mixed in the same day.
It wasn't perfect, but I LOVED it!  There was a rawness and energy that usually gets edited out these days.
Sam Taylor's "What You Heard" in case you're curious.

Not exactly new but still happening with some of the same vibe. It also has Dave Cobb as a producer going for it.  
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRfRIXg2spo

I tend to make 75% of my mix within a day or two working several hours each time in the evening. The other 25% is unacceptable and some of that sometimes gets past me. No two mixes are ever the same. Sometimes the process is painless and other times I pull my hair out.
 
I never rode faders. Thought about a control surface when I get more room in my studio. I do ride my mouse. My mouse doesn't seem to mind.
 

I try to have a general target of a mix taking about four hours. Then I'll do maybe an hour's worth of refinements a couple of days later. I honestly think any longer, and you're not really adding anything. You're just getting too caught up in the weeds.
 
It's also mostly the only realistic way to make a living at it, and make a sensible hourly rate. But that's not the main reason. If it still sucks after a day's work, you're almost certainly better off starting from scratch than keeping tweaking. And if it doesn't suck, then it's done.