We’ve gotten really good at removing effort from everyday life.

Think about how many things we’ve made easier without really noticing. We park close to the door, have food delivered, take the elevator, and arrange our homes and routines so the things we need are easy to reach. Most of the time, there’s a good reason for it. It saves time, it’s comfortable, and sometimes it just makes sense.

I’m certainly not going to tell you to start making your life intentionally inconvenient. But I do think it’s worth considering how much effort we’ve slowly removed from an average day. Our bodies don’t necessarily know the difference between movement we call exercise and movement that happens because life requires it. Walking a little farther, carrying the groceries inside, getting down on the floor and back up, or reaching for something on a higher shelf all ask something of us. None of it seems particularly significant on its own, which might be exactly why it’s so easy to overlook.

I was first introduced to thinking about movement like nutrition through Katy Bowman’s work, and it changed my perspective on what we ask of our bodies. All of those little opportunities throughout our day give our bodies something different. Not because every elevator ride needs to become a trip up the stairs, but because our bodies benefit from being used in different ways.

Our bodies are pretty good at learning the job we give them. The catch is that they also get pretty good at the jobs we stop giving them.

If we continually choose the option that requires the least from us, we also give our bodies fewer chances to move, adapt, work, and stay resilient. Convenience isn’t really the thing worth questioning. It’s how often we choose it without realizing what we’ve traded for it. That might be where the real cost is.

There isn’t one right amount of effort.

Of course, the answer isn’t to make everything harder just because our bodies could use the movement. Sometimes taking the easier option is exactly what allows us to do something else that matters more. I’ve seen this over and over with people living with chronic pain, fatigue, and other conditions. You can make it through the workday, but dinner might just need to be the easiest thing in the fridge tonight. You can go to happy hour, but you’re already thinking about how much recovery you might need the next day.

Suddenly, you’re doing math all day long. If I spend more here, where am I going to have to spend less? What do I want to save time and energy for? It can feel like you’re constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul with your own body, and that calculation carries its own weight. Especially when you’re doing the math before you’ve even decided what you actually want to do.

So sometimes you take the elevator, sit down while you’re getting ready, order the groceries, or say no to something you technically could do because you’d rather use what you have available somewhere else. That isn’t necessarily avoiding effort. Sometimes it’s attuning into what your priorities are.

Our bodies need both challenge and recovery, and we’re not going to need the same amount of either every day. Sometimes the better choice is to ask a little more of ourselves. Other times, making something easier is what leaves enough in the tank for something else that matters.

It’s less about whether we’re choosing the easy or hard option and more about attuning to why we’re choosing it. There’s a difference between saving your energy for something that matters and automatically removing effort from your day simply because you can.

What’s Worth Noticing

Sometime today, notice one moment when you choose to make a part of your life easier. It doesn’t need to be something you change, and there’s no right or wrong choice to make.

Ask yourself: What does this choice give me, and what could it cost me?

Maybe you’re saving some energy for later. Maybe your body genuinely needs the break. Or there could be an opportunity to ask a little more of your body that you’ve been passing up without knowing it.

Then use what you noticed the next time that choice comes up. Maybe you make the exact same decision, but now you know why. Or you decide this is one place where a little more effort today could be an investment in what you want your body to keep doing in the future.

The goal is simply to make one of those everyday choices with a little more intention.

For me, one small place this shows up is where I eat lunch. I’ve gotten into the habit of thinking about what my day has already asked of my body before deciding where I want to take a break. If I’ve been running around the hospital all morning, I might sit outside on a bench and actually give myself a chance to rest. If I’ve spent the morning at my desk, I’m much more likely to get away from it, stand at the kitchen counter, or even sit on the living room floor. Lunch is still lunch, but where and how I take that break can give my body something a little different depending on what I need that day. Some days the floor sounds great. Other days, a chair is exactly where I want to be.

It’s a pretty small choice, but those are the kinds of choices that make up most of our days. I’m not trying to turn lunch into exercise. I’m just noticing where I have an opportunity to use my body a little differently and deciding whether I want to take it.

What about you? Think about one thing you regularly make easier for yourself. What does that choice give you, and what could it cost you?