In olden times, people had daily chores and other things to do but their workload/ daily working hours was actually much lower than it is today. Even in farming communities.

The concept of working super hard every day actually comes from capitalism, which in turn comes from Puritanical ideology.

The Puritans believed in salvation through work and in no play.

Early capitalists adopted this ideology because it meant higher productivity and therefore more money if their factories were running near constantly.

The idea of needing to be continuously productive in order to be useful/ allowed things like food and shelter, is actually quite an insidious ideal that is deeply rooted in the American culture.