It's got to be about the type of music you're recording. Acoustic singer/songwriter stuff is quick and easy with a little bit of work and a decent player. Metal/hard rock/pop etc...there's no way I could chuck out something I'm happy with in a day.
Pre-pro is so important in hard rock where there's so little space in the arrangements. Likewise with tracking - pitch and timing have to be bang on or it all falls apart.
I can totally relate to hours spent editing drums. Once you've checked phase, sorted timing, carefully selected samples, added samples, mixed in samples and de-cluttered...
Then it's comping and editing everything else before you're even ready to think about mixing. By this time my ears and head are too messed up to get good results from mixing.
I wish I could experience one of those sessions where a great band walks in, I stick up a few mics, hit record and get a general balance and it's off to mastering...but where's the fun in that?