So, I've started working my first "real job" last month, and it's pretty decent. Good benefits, decent pay, strong union despite being tech, and for reasonable hours (6 per day). The problem is that I took this job mainly so I can continue grad school. Currently I'm finishing up my master's, so I'm managing to conciliate doing both OK since I don't need to be in uni premises for anything anymore, but I'm unsure about being able to do a PhD later.
I figure once I work for a few months and get to work remote for most of the week I can do 6 hours of office work plus 6 hours of research work, or alternatively 6 + 4 and compensate by doing some research on the weekends. However I've heard conflicting feedback about this plan. One of my roommates says this is a horrible idea and that I'll become the Joker after a couple months, while one of my coworkers said I should wait a bit to see if this job won't demand too much of me (still in training currently), but that he thinks it's doable. Both are currently doing/have done a PhD at the same uni I want to enroll in. Also is 6ish hours per day even enough for a PhD?
Additional info: Public latam uni, so no tuition but the government grants are nothing to write home about (before getting the job it was barely enough to get by, and that was with help from my folks). The advisor I'm aiming for can be demanding at times but is also really nice and is new faculty. The PhD is in compsci (ML/NLP) and I plan to continue exploring a niche I'm already familiar with. Work schedule is fairly flexible, save for the fucking meetings (agile delenda est). A lot of credits can be done by getting good publications instead of doing uni courses.
Edit: Thanks everyone! I kind of feared "obviously no you moron" would be the general consensus. I probably got too optimistic about getting to keep doing research immediately. I'll wait for things to settle down and reevaluate my options. There's some mechanisms at the job that are supposedly designed so you can continue education, but my impression is that those are mostly reserved for MBA types, infrequently offered and also really contested, but I should ask around some more to be sure. I also know some better sources of funding are available once you enroll, but seeing my friend applying for those and failing repeatedly discourages me from betting on it. Worst comes to worst I'll save up some money, try doing this for a bit and quit if it proves unsustainable. Again, thanks for the input!
It is probably doable, but I think you would be susceptible to burn-out (depending on your other job and general mental health too). Lots of phds areas in the US it is pretty common to have "duties"(teaching,TA,grading,tutoring), for a stipend and cover tuition, but in my experience that was generally less than 4 hrs a day. It will probably depend a lot on how quick and demanding the phd program is at your school. Maybe see if there is a way to get less hours or just do research while at work (if you think you can get away with it)? Waiting to see how the workload is doesn't seem like a bad idea but I don't know how inconvenient it would be for you to wait a few months. 6hrs of productive research sounds like a stretch anyways no matter what you are doing, but I don't really know what your CS research "looks" like.
If you currently have this workload at a job plus doing a master's I am not sure how much more work comparatively you would have compared to PhD(again this depends on a lot of specifics), and if that is comfortable you might do just fine(also generally research can be "easier" to do since it is more fun and you are motivated, hopefully, than basic class work in a masters etc. This also depends on specifics).