Why does manual labor make you question your life choices?
Intense physical work like laying sod alone late at night causes extreme physical exhaustion and soreness so severe it makes workers question their career decisions and worry about basic mobility the next day. This grueling level of physical toll leaves individuals completely wiped out and questioning whether they will even be able to walk properly tomorrow.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Humor and camaraderie through sharing photos online
- 2Pushing through the heavy physical labor
- 3Establishing a strict immediate-action routine upon coming home before losing motivation
- 4Scheduling specific days with no school work at home
- 5Treating oneself to massages or nail appointments on weekends
- 6Paying kids or laborers to help shovel and spread
- 7Using powered throwing spreaders or rolling spreaders
- 8Purchasing rotating sifters or expensive motorized spreaders
- 9Switching to easier alternatives like peat moss, compost tea, or organic fertilizer
- 10keeping the wheel barrel half full
- 11trying to move dry dirt
- 12switching between wheeling dirt and using a rake to level
- 13shoveling it straight out of a truck bed
- 14studying training videos beforehand
- 15wearing gloves
- 16Eating very healthy
- 17Weight lifting to keep shoulders strong
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I don’t think I have ever done something more grueling in my entire life.”source ↗
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to walk ok tmw.”source ↗
“As landscapers do you ever take on jobs that make you re-think your life decisions?😅😅”source ↗
“The dirt came yesterday. 9 yards. I've spread about 6-6.5 today. My body is yelling "no more please".... But I don't have time off again to finish.”source ↗
“I hand-screened 4 cu yd of top soil this season for seeding and I can confidently say I will never be doing that again”source ↗
“I took naps that were hours long, skipped dinner often, and worked constantly.”source ↗
“I’m exhausted all the time.”source ↗
“I don’t know how to feel less tired or how to do more than work.”source ↗
“Any tips from seasoned pros how to manage hedge trimming everyday and not wear out?”source ↗
“after a few long days of hedges it adds up and my muscles start to give out.”source ↗
“I got my first job working at a grocery store 5-6 hr shifts and I can’t lie their long and my calves hurt sometimes, I want to do hvac but not sure if I’m cut out for it just from the pain”source ↗
“this job is difficult. I love it, but you flinging 24ft extension ladders, coils into tight spaces, yourself into tight spaces. Spend hours on ladders lifting heavy things, using muscles you didn't really know you had.”source ↗
“I’m scooping 7 yards as I speak and I regret it.”source ↗
“I got 9 years a few years ago and got tennis elbow after about half of it.”source ↗
“I will never do that again. Not because it was not beneficial, it was... But Im never spreading that much compost again because it was clumpy as all fuck and it was a God awful amount of work and I spent weeks doing it coming home dead tired every day.”source ↗
“Never again. It's the worst thing I've ever done in almost 100 degrees. The shoveling into the cart, the pulling of the cart, the shoveling again to get out of the cart then the absolute worst-spreading and trying to scrub with a brush into the grass.”source ↗
“I did 4 tonne in a day, it was the levelling on my knees that killed me!”source ↗
“I did 5 yards over 3 days and wanted to die. 9 is insanity level.”source ↗
“I had 2 yards delivered a couple weeks ago and was like F THIS after spreading that after overseeding the back yard.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 15Why am I so tired and burnt out teaching?
- 11How to recover from severe travel burnout and flight dread
- 6How to clean your house when you get tired really fast
- 5Why am I too exhausted and overstimulated to parent?
- 3How to get HR to approve an ergonomic standing desk for back pain
- 6Why does home maintenance feel like a never-ending job?