I always thought it did/should mean that the work was gonna be easy since it was cut *out* but apparently it means the work is gonna be hard and I don’t understand how it makes sense
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The literal origin dates back to the early industrial era when things were a mixture of automation and human labor.
Seamstresses and dressmakers used to have to plan out their designs, cut up the fabric, then stich it together. That took time, so clearly a person would only cut up and prepare the amount of raw fabric they needed to perform the next step. No sense in getting ahead of yourself.
Once industrialization came you could have a thousand unskilled laborers “cutting out” the designs from the raw fabric and then throwing them into a pile for the skilled seamstresses to sew and join together.
To have your “work cut out for you” meant you have a *huge* pile of work set out and ready for you, and you being the bottle neck to getting it done. You could equate to the modern day, “have my inbox filled with emails I have to reply to”. In short, you’re not waiting on anything, you’re not even waiting on a reasonable about of work, *all the work* is ready and waiting for your slow ass.
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