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 the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- Most of it landed at once — the busiest month was September 2026, with 20 people.
- This comes up 11.4× more often in r/lawncare than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Humor and camaraderie through sharing photos onlineDid this help you?
- 2Pushing through the heavy physical laborDid this help you?
- 3Establishing a strict immediate-action routine upon coming home before losing motivationDid this help you?
- 4Scheduling specific days with no school work at homeDid this help you?
- 5Treating oneself to massages or nail appointments on weekendsDid this help you?
- 6Paying kids or laborers to help shovel and spreadDid this help you?
- 7Using powered throwing spreaders or rolling spreadersDid this help you?
- 8Purchasing rotating sifters or expensive motorized spreadersDid this help you?
- 9Switching to easier alternatives like peat moss, compost tea, or organic fertilizerDid this help you?
- 10keeping the wheel barrel half fullDid this help you?
- 11trying to move dry dirtDid this help you?
- 12switching between wheeling dirt and using a rake to levelDid this help you?
- 13shoveling it straight out of a truck bedDid this help you?
- 14studying training videos beforehandDid this help you?
- 15wearing glovesDid this help you?
- 16Eating very healthyDid this help you?
- 17Weight lifting to keep shoulders strongDid this help you?
- 18building up muscle and getting used to it over timeDid this help you?
- 19increasing calorie intake up to 5,000 or 6,000 calories a day during tear offsDid this help you?
- 20subbing out heavy asphalt tear-off jobs to focus on metal or rubber roofingDid this help you?
- 21breaking projects down into manageable sections over multiple daysDid this help you?
- 22Finding a second wind through activities like walking dogsDid this help you?
- 23Taking a 45-minute resting nap with eyes closedDid this help you?
- 24Exercising or doing chores to build a routineDid this help you?
- 25Checking iron, ferritin, and magnesium levelsDid this help you?
- 26taking a showerDid this help you?
- 27changing into comfortable clothesDid this help you?
- 28drinking a snack and hydratingDid this help you?
- 29watching television or sportsDid this help you?
- 30drinking alcoholDid this help you?
- 31Lifting weights and doing morning workouts before the day startsDid this help you?
- 32Getting bloodwork to check thyroid levels and taking medications like levothyroxineDid this help you?
- 33Starting hormone replacement therapy to manage menopause symptomsDid this help you?
- 34Setting hard boundaries by not taking work home or volunteering for extrasDid this help you?
- 35Using every available sick and personal day to create shorter work weeksDid this help you?
- 36Investing in supportive shoes to reduce physical painDid this help you?
- 37Using cannabis or alcohol to decompressDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, 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 ↗
“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’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 ↗
“Sore everywhere. I didn't even get the bloody whole thing stripped.”source ↗
“Honestly one of the hardest days labour I think I've done. It's worse than digging man. Damn. It's all those angles lmao”source ↗
“Roofing is exhasting and in the summer shockingly hotter than you think.”source ↗
“I'm a licensed plumber coming from HVAC, so I have busted my ass in all types of shitty situations. There is NO WAY I would be able to strip the roof solo.”source ↗
“I had a bit of help here and there today but mostly alone. I'm dead.”source ↗
“As landscapers do you ever take on jobs that make you re-think your life decisions?😅😅”source ↗
“Lately, I’ve been struggling with the physical demands of the job. My legs and back have been really sore this week, and I’ve been so exhausted that I’ve fallen asleep on the couch several evenings, sometimes pretty early.”source ↗
“Even when things go reasonably well at work, I often come home feeling completely depleted.”source ↗
“Despite all that, I feel like much of my free time is spent recovering from work rather than enjoying life.”source ↗
“Is it normal to feel extremely tired after work every day? Year 7 high school, 31f, no kids & family.”source ↗
“I noticed about 3 years ago that my energy was zilch, and I was falling asleep all of the time, even while stopped at a light on the way to work one morning. No energy for anything, even when I had slept or rested. My body just felt weak.”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 ↗
“Im not, I am regretting life choices and lamenting that in too old to do much else”source ↗
“I am 46 and I am a 4th year teacher. I have worked so many jobs in my life time. This is by the hardest. I wish I had advice for you. Every day until summer I am just spent.”source ↗
“Everything changed for me at 43 when I started early onset menopause. The things you're saying resonate with me experience.”source ↗
“That's how I felt for 20+ years straight. For our job unfortunately it's the norm.”source ↗
“cry as i stare at absolutely nothing in the dark.”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 ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 49Why am I so tired and burnt out teaching?
- 18How to recover from severe travel burnout and flight dread
- 10How to clean your house when you get tired really fast
- 19How to handle severe work burnout and zero motivation
- 20Why am I too exhausted and overstimulated to parent?
- 13How to get HR to approve an ergonomic standing desk for back pain