17 Physical Warning Signs You're Pushing Yourself Too Hard

1. Pronounced fatigue all the time.

A woman in blue pajamas sits on a bed with her hands on her head, looking distressed. The room has white walls, a window, and a small bedside table with a bowl and a cup. Natural light illuminates the room.

You never feel rested, no matter how much you sleep (when you manage to sleep at all). Feeling tired and drained is your “new normal,” and you don’t have much energy to do anything. Your limbs might seem heavier than they used to be, and you may get exhausted after doing the smallest amount of physical exertion.

You may not even have the strength to do things like lift a saucepan one-handed, or walk up a flight of stairs without needing a rest.

2. Migraines and tension headaches.

A middle-aged woman with short blonde hair sits on a couch, pressing her fingers to her temples and grimacing. She appears to be experiencing pain or discomfort, possibly a headache. She is wearing a plaid shirt. The background is blurred and bright.

You may be living on painkillers because you have a killer headache that just won’t go away. Migraine-like effects such as hypersensitivity to light or sound might be present, and you may feel a tightness around your temples.

Furthermore, you may notice signs of temporal mandibular jaw disorder (TMJ). This can include a tightness or “clicking” in your jaws, along with chronic headache pain, especially on one side.

3. You have trouble forming sentences.

A person with red hair and a beard, wearing a light denim shirt, is sitting with a frustrated expression, raising both hands beside their head. The background shows a blurred indoor setting.

You’re often at a loss for words, and struggle to express yourself articulately. You might even resort to hand gestures and guttural sounds as you try to pantomime what you’re trying to get across. There seems to be a blockage between your thought process and your mouth (or hand), so you literally cannot express what you need or want to.

4. You look fairly unhealthy.

A woman with light brown hair pulled back in a ponytail is looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression. She is wearing a light yellow shirt. The background is softly blurred, showing a bed and a lamp, suggesting an indoor setting.

Maybe you can’t be bothered with your regular skincare routine so your skin is looking dull and sallow. Or you’re breaking out because you haven’t washed your pillowcases in a few months. You might have dark circles around your eyes, and you’ve either lost or gained a significant amount of weight in a short time.

Either way, you look like you’re not feeling well at all. You may not even notice it when you look in a mirror (if you look in them at all these days), but you might get concerned responses from friends, family members, even colleagues. If your local barista is asking if you’re okay, that’s usually a strong sign that you aren’t.

5. You’ve been getting ill a lot.

A woman wrapped in a blanket is sitting on a couch, holding a tissue to her nose with one hand and her forehead with the other, appearing unwell. Another woman is sitting next to her, offering a glass of water and looking concerned.

You’re doing so much nonstop and not getting enough rest, and that’s taking its toll on your immune system. As a result, you’ll catch a cold if someone with the sniffles passes within 100 feet of you. You always seem to be fighting something off or recovering from something else.

This exacerbates the fatigue and overall ill health, as whatever you’re sick with might be interfering with nutrient absorption. For example, a sore throat might prevent you from eating much, while a belly bug might stop you from retaining food.

6. Digestive issues are a daily complaint.

A woman with blonde hair wearing a pink sweater and blue jeans sits on a gray couch with several white and gray pillows, holding her stomach and appearing to be in pain.

We’re not talking about the hit to the immune system that we mentioned earlier, but rather near-constant digestive issues. Maybe you’ve got acid reflux/heartburn on the daily, or you feel like your gallbladder is trying to chew its way out of you.

Depending on your dosha, you might be dealing with IBS-type symptoms like constipation or diarrhea. Alternatively, you might feel nausea at the thought of eating, or feel like you’re starving all the time.

7. Your appearance is disheveled.

A woman with long, messy hair wearing a light gray T-shirt looks upwards with a slightly puzzled or frustrated expression against a plain white background.

In simplest terms, you look a mess. Your clothes might be unwashed or are wrinkled and stained. Your shoes might be covered in muck and your hair has forgotten what combs and shampoo are. Friends might be concerned that you’ve “let yourself go,” as you put zero care into your appearance anymore.

8. Your hair is thinning.

A young woman with long brown hair looks down at a hairbrush she's holding, visibly concerned. She is sitting on a light grey couch in a living room setting with a lamp and a shelf in the background.

This can happen to people of any gender, and can be very distressing. If you’re stressed and overworked, and not getting proper rest and nutrition, your hair will be a strong indicator. If it’s looking brittle and listless or fills up your hairbrush on a daily basis, that’s a strong sign you’re doing too much and need to ease off.

9. The smallest tasks seem physically overwhelming.

A person with long, curly hair is lying down with both hands covering their face. They are wearing a white t-shirt, and the background shows a textured, light-colored surface. The person's expression suggests they might be tired or stressed.

You might need a few hours to pep talk yourself into moving the wet laundry into the dryer because it seems like an insurmountable task to you. Making breakfast for the kids is akin to scaling Everest. That sock has been lying on the floor for a week because you only notice it once you’ve sat down, and you can’t will yourself to stand up again to toss it in the laundry hamper.

10. You don’t stop until you’re literally injured.

A doctor in a white coat is examining a patient's arm, which is wrapped in a bandage. The patient is wearing a light blue shirt, and their hands are gently held by the doctor. The background is a plain, softly lit room.

Every nerve in your body might be screaming at you to stop and take a break, but you just have too much to do, so you keep going. And because you’re so depleted, you end up burning your arm on a frying pan, or dropping something on your foot.

Maybe you throw your back out, or get dizzy and fall down the stairs. You just won’t allow yourself to slow down or stop until your body literally gives out on you and forces you to chill.

11. Haphazard eating schedule.

A man in a suit stands on a train platform, holding a sandwich in one hand while looking at his wristwatch with a concerned expression. The train tracks and platform are visible in the background under a cloudy sky.

You don’t eat regular meals around the same time every day. In fact, there are some days when you barely eat at all, and others where you might gorge yourself to make up for the previous fasts.

Sometimes you’ll feel lightheaded and realize that you’ve forgotten to eat. Other times you’ll graze all day long and then wonder why you feel off later in the evening.

12. You make unhealthy food choices.

A man with a beard, wearing a blue shirt, sits at a table with an open pizza box and a bottle of soda. He looks uninterested as he rests his head on one hand and reaches for a slice of pizza with the other hand. The background is a bright room with curtains.

While no food is truly “junk” food, there are some options that are significantly less nutritious or healthy than others.

If you’ve been doing too much, then you probably haven’t been able to devote much time to food shopping and cooking. As a result, your meals tend to be cheap, quick, and dirty rather than healthy.

You may opt for instant meals and takeout or delivery. These tend to be high on flavor and low on nutrition, but won’t exhaust you the way a roast dinner or multi-step meal prep would.

13. Your surroundings are messy.

A bearded man wearing yellow rubber gloves is cleaning a modern white kitchen. He is leaning over a black trash bin, throwing away pizza leftovers. The countertop is cluttered with various items, including a red cup, a plate with pizza, and a coffee mug.

If you don’t have the time or energy to take care of yourself properly, then you certainly don’t have the means to care for your surroundings.

Maybe you haven’t washed your bed linens for several weeks, or laundry has piled up on every surface around you. Dishes aren’t being washed, dust is piling up in corners, closets and pantry shelves are stuffed with items that you’ve crammed in instead of folding, organizing, or storing properly.

14. Your calendar is completely packed.

A person holding a pen is looking at an open planner filled with colorful sticky notes and handwritten entries for the 28th and 29th of a month. The notes list various tasks and activities like meetings, yoga classes, and project deadlines.

There are no gaps in your schedule at all. From the moment you wake up to the second you collapse into bed at night, there’s something to take care of. You have no downtime, and if something arises that needs to be tended to immediately, you’ll need to juggle and rearranging half your life to accommodate it.

15. Your “to-do” list never gets completed.

A woman multitasks, talking on the phone and working on a laptop, while a young girl beside her applies peanut butter to a slice of bread. The scene is set in a kitchen with jars of jam, a green apple, and other kitchen items on the counter.

It’s immensely satisfying to be able to check completed tasks off a daily “to-do” list, but yours never gets totally checked off. There’s simply too much on it to be able to achieve in a single day, so tasks get carried over onto the next. This is obviously repeated day after day, especially when plans go awry due to unforeseen circumstances.

16. The quality of everything you do is sub-par.

A man in a suit is sleeping at his desk with his head resting on papers. His glasses are askew, and his computer, smartphone, and a coffee cup are nearby, indicating he was working before falling asleep. The office setting appears modern and well-lit.

You might have previously enjoyed making great meals for your family or being meticulous with your office work habits. Now they’re getting half-warmed Chef Boyardee on paper plates, and the work you’re submitting is full of mistakes. You just don’t have it in you to put your all into anything you do.

17. You “don’t have time” for things you love anymore.

A man with light brown hair and glasses, wearing a green shirt over a white t-shirt, rests his head on his hand with his eyes closed. The background is blurred, showing an indoor setting with shelves and a possible menu board.

Hobbies and exercise routines are no longer daily occurrences. Instead, they’re put on the back burner for whenever it is that you might have a moment to spare for them. That means they keep getting pushed back until one day you notice that you can’t squat to pick something up without groaning, and you don’t remember how to do some of your favorite activities.