WoW can be pretty fun at times, but it can also be incredibly tedious and boring. I
just hit level 70 after probably 6+ months of very casual playing (and some bribery to get my cousin to level my character a bit while I'm at work).
Understand that it's meant to be a huge time sink. There's a reason why even at level 70, you've essentially just begun playing as you now have all the PvP gear to get, dailies, PvE raids, etc. They want you to keep subscribing, so maybe take a step back, spend a few less hours playing, or at least set goals for yourself during the day that you have to reach before you even open up the client like "I will do something that will contribute to my future success today". That could be learning something related to your profession, putting together your resume, going to class if you're still in school (and spending X amount of time studying), etc.
It's all how you balance it, and honestly sitting down and playing WoW for 8 hours straight is a lot more fun when you know you have zero obligations or responsibilities to take care of, as you've already gotten everything else out of the way.
Rules to Live by:
1. Never let a video game dictate when you're going to sleep if you have prior obligations the next day that would require you to be rested (i.e. working, driving for more than a few minutes, hanging out with friends/family).
2. Never open up a game when you still have things to take care of. The biggest mistake you can make when you're teetering between working and slacking off is opening up a game to play it "for a few minutes." If you have **** to do until 11pm, and you need sleep the next day, accept the fact that you won't get to play tonight, and you'll just have to wait until the weekend. The stress you will save yourself by doing this is well worth being a low level in a game that will be obsolete in a few years.
3. A moment enjoyed is not wasted. Inversely, a moment not enjoyed, and not essential to your future success and/or survival, is a complete and total waste. If you feel that spending 60 hours in Battlegrounds collecting marks is boring but the gear you're working for is totally worth it, more power to you. But consider the amount of time spent compared to what you're getting out of it. Games like WoW are all about the rush you get from a reward after hours and hours of tedious gameplay. Maybe it's better to play Counter-Strike or something for a couple hours instead, where you're having fun the entire time.
4. All Video Games die out eventually. You can't keep your character forever. You may get some satisfaction out of being a packrat and collecting every possible armor set, spending countless hours raiding, pvping, etc., but eventually you'll be bored of the game when no one else plays it.
5. Real Life > Virtual Life. If you have real life friends trying to get you to hang out and you're raiding at the same time, miss the raid. If your RL friends play wow, and they'll be raiding with you, then more power to you.
6. You have complete control over every decision you make. If you end up playing WoW until 5am and you're too tired to go to work, so you call in, and now you're stressed because you feel you've called in sick too often/you're out of sick hours, you have absolutely no one to blame but yourself. Sometimes people get into a self-destruct mode where they're so stressed they think "**** it, I didn't go into work 3 days this week, I should just stop going." You may **** up, but you can always play damage control, and when you're cleaning up a mess you've made it's always a great time for reflection.
That said I recommend finding some regular people to play with, because that's really what WoW is all about. I'll end up hanging out on vent talking to people in my guild (a few of them I've known for years when I used to go to LAN tournaments for CS and stuff) even when I'm not playing WoW or I'm busy working. You'll find that the social aspect is a lot more important than the mindless grinding/questing, so always put that as the priority. As always, have fun
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