eli5 How does the phrase “We got our work cut out for us” make sense?

Question

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

In: 2

Answer 1

Foresight? They can see the work and how hard it will be in their head. At least that’s how I view it.

By planning the work they’ve “cut it out” for themselves. Out of all the work going on this is their cut lol.