Shouldn't a card in the first learning step count against the new card limit?

[jambamboleo]

[edit: Mind you that I am talking about the “new interval”. However, this might actually not be your problem. Before the interval comes the “relearning step”, which will not be affected by the new interval setting. Thanks to dae for identifying the problem; refer to his comment.]

@tbodt

words that I’ve just forgotten and need to totally learn again. This puts a large number of cards back into the first learning step, far over the new card limit, which I rely on to avoid overworking myself and trying to learn too many things in one day.

It sounds like you are using the default value of 0.00 for the “New Interval” setting: Deck Options - Anki Manual

Here are some currently available solutions to lessen your workload from lapsed cards:

• to use FSRS4Anki
• or use the add-on autoLapseNewInterval
• or just manually set it to a value between 0.01 and 0.1. For example, if you failed a card that has an interval of 200 days, a setting of 0.05 will result in a new interval after the lapse of 10 days.

I strongly recommend FSRS4Anki. It can reduce your overall workload, including review cards; especially if you use its Optimizer program. This can also mean that you will fail less cards.