Difference is you can learn everything you need to build a house in a week. You'll make a couple mistakes, you might be off by a little bit, but it really is a lot simpler than the layman thinks. Personally I have found repetitive, physically straining work to be extremely mentally exhausting but in a worse way; There are next to no challenging problems but you are forced to keep your mind on the task with all sorts of pains and aches. At the end of the day though it's a lot easier to walk away from your work, and you know you've always got a job.