I haven't found med school to be that bad so far. It eats up a lot of your day during the week and there's always something else to study...but to be honest, my life hasn't really *drastically* changed as compared to my 9-5 job I had in the 2 years before. In fact, I get Wednesdays off (which usually means Tuesday night bar-hopping, Wednesday laundry/exercise/catch-up). You don't get days off like that in the real world. You also don't get even one summer off in the real world. So you can't complain too much.
Also, once you get over the "difficulty" you realize things like anatomy or learning physical exam skills are super fun, and not really a "chore" to go to. I even eat my weekends away doing free clinic volunteering...but to be honest, it does become more "fun" than a "required activity". You also get to experience a bunch of crazy unique stuff with a group of like-minded students who probably have a whole boat-load of interesting experiences in medicine. It's not a cake-walk (and I'm sort of inundated with work right now), but certainly your first two years there is room for fun.
My current weekend plans include a dinner date in the city, hitting up a speak easy bar with college friends, potluck lunch with fellow med students, sunset bonfire on the Beach, mixer party with another local medical school, mashup club dancing outing following, and 3 hours seeing uninsured patients in the clinic.
I go over this topic a lot with friends, but life is really what you make it. You should make every effort to enjoy your life NOW...don't want for things to get better. If you go in with that mentality (and the dedication to still keep up with things), I think you can find a good balance between studying and getting that "P" grade while also finding time for yourself and everything else in your life.