I had a similar realisation where it wasn't the work that was making my body and brain say, "enough" but the abuse I would give myself even just by the feelings of anxiety and stress to "must get it done or else." Was what I couldnt tolerate.

These things can become a habit and we often don't realise I think that it is just a habitual way of thinking and not reality a lot of the time. The same can happen with people who wish to lose weight and they can be skinny but they still have the "habit" of seeing themselves as fat (not the same as anorexia but part of that is habituated behaviours for sure).

A great way to find these troublesome thoughts is by looking for when you are saying to yourself, "should" or "should not" and I have found that questioning these shoulds and should nots has lead me to explore whether they are actually benefiting me or just left over unhelpful ways of being left over from childhood.