burn the candle at both ends

Cultural  

1. To do more than one ought to; to overextend oneself: “His doctor said that his illness was brought on by stress and recommended that he stop burning the candle at both ends.”

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burn the candle at both ends Idioms  

1. Exhaust one's energies or resources by leading a hectic life. For example, Joseph's been burning the candle at both ends for weeks, working two jobs during the week and a third on weekends. This metaphor originated in France and was translated into English in Randle Cotgrave's Dictionary (1611), where it referred to dissipating one's wealth. It soon acquired its present broader meaning.

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Example Sentences

I have girlfriends who may not be making as much money as their spouses, or vice versa, and everybody is out there hustling and grinding it out and burning the candle at both ends.

From Los Angeles Times

Murray adds that he didn’t know how to say “no” in a healthy way and that he was burning the candle at both ends.

From Los Angeles Times

“The time has come for me to face the dangers of burning the candle at both ends,” Mr. Nugent wrote in a resignation letter he shared on social media.

From Washington Times

One thinks of what a journalist wrote about another hard-living star: “Keith Richards doesn’t so much burn the candle at both ends as apply a blow torch to the middle.”

From Washington Post

“I didn’t just burn the candle at both ends, I was also finding new ends to light.”

From New York Times