Is convenience killing us? Why doing hard things may be good for your brain

We live in an age where almost everything is designed to make life easier.

Hungry? Order food and have it delivered to your door.

Need groceries? Someone else can shop for them.

Don't want to clean? A robot vacuum can do it.

Need to get somewhere? GPS will tell you every turn.

Need to write an email? AI can write it.

Need an idea? AI can generate it.

Need to research something? AI can summarise it.

And increasingly, the vision being sold to us for the future is one where we barely need to do anything we don't want to do.

Companies are developing humanoid robots such as Tesla's Optimus, with the long-term vision of machines capable of taking over many everyday tasks. Cooking, cleaning, washing, carrying, errands - all those annoying jobs we would rather not do.

On the surface, it sounds amazing.

But at Zing Wellbeing, we think there's a really important conversation we need to be having:

Is removing every inconvenience from our lives actually good for us?

Because perhaps some of the things we are so desperate to avoid are actually helping keep us physically active, mentally stimulated, creative, connected and engaged with the real world.

We have become obsessed with convenience

Convenience itself isn't bad.

Technology has transformed our lives in incredible ways. Washing machines, cars, computers, smartphones, online shopping and now artificial intelligence can save enormous amounts of time.

The problem isn't convenience.

The potential problem is passivity.

What happens when we progressively outsource everything that requires physical or mental effort?

We don't walk because we can drive.

We don't shop because groceries can be delivered.

We don't cook because food can arrive ready-made.

We don't remember directions because GPS does it.

We don't work out an answer because Google tells us.

And increasingly, we don't even need to formulate our own thoughts because AI can do that too.

Individually, none of these things is particularly concerning.

But collectively?

It's worth thinking about.

Our brains need to be used

At Zing Wellbeing, when we talk about longevity, we aren't simply talking about living for as many years as possible.

We want those years to be healthy years.

We want to remain strong, mobile, independent, socially connected and mentally sharp.

That's why mental wellbeing and brain health are such important parts of the Zing philosophy.

Our brains aren't static organs. Throughout life they respond to what we ask them to do.

Learning something new, solving problems, reading, writing, remembering, creating, communicating and developing new skills all require cognitive effort.

Research into healthy ageing consistently points towards the importance of factors including physical activity, social connection, learning and cognitive stimulation.

That doesn't mean doing crosswords or learning French will guarantee you won't develop dementia. Brain ageing is much more complicated than that.

But it does mean there are very good reasons to continue using your brain.

And that brings us to AI.

AI should be a tool for our brains, not a replacement for them

AI is extraordinary.

It can save time, help us understand complex subjects, organise information, generate ideas and make many parts of our lives easier.

We aren't anti-AI at Zing Wellbeing.

But we do think there is an important distinction between using AI to enhance your thinking and using AI so you don't have to think.

Imagine gradually handing over more and more of your cognitive workload.

AI writes your emails.

AI plans your day.

AI summarises articles.

AI writes your presentations.

AI comes up with your ideas.

AI researches your purchases.

AI plans your holidays.

AI answers every question.

AI makes recommendations about what you should do.

At what point do we stop exercising some of those cognitive skills ourselves?

Research in this area is still emerging, so it would be wrong to say AI is going to cause cognitive decline or dementia.

But researchers are already studying cognitive offloading and how generative AI may change the amount and type of critical thinking we use.

Perhaps the answer isn't to stop using AI.

It's to use it intelligently.

Ask AI to challenge your thinking rather than always think for you.

Come up with your own ideas before asking for more.

Read.

Write.

Research.

Question things.

Learn new skills.

Solve problems.

Keep your brain involved.

This is also why we are so passionate about cooking at Zing Wellbeing

There is another area where convenience has completely transformed our behaviour: food.

We can now go through an entire day without preparing a single thing we eat.

Breakfast can come from a packet.

Lunch can be delivered.

Dinner can arrive via an app.

Snacks can come from boxes and bags.

And although convenience foods absolutely have a place in busy lives, we believe there is enormous value in continuing to prepare real food.

Firstly, when you cook your own meals, you know what's going into them.

You choose the ingredients.

You decide how much protein, vegetables, fibre and whole foods are going onto your plate.

You aren't completely dependent on a food manufacturer or takeaway restaurant deciding what goes into your meal.

That's one of the reasons Zing Wellbeing puts such a huge emphasis on simple, achievable recipes rather than unrealistic "perfect" diets.

But cooking gives us something else too.

Cooking isn't just about nutrition

Making food is a real-life activity.

You have to plan.

Choose ingredients.

Measure.

Chop.

Taste.

Adjust.

Remember.

Problem-solve.

Use your hands.

Use your senses.

And create something.

Then there is the social element.

Cooking with your partner, children, grandchildren or friends can be an opportunity to talk, laugh, teach, learn and connect.

Children can learn how food is made.

Families can sit around a table.

Recipes can be passed between generations.

Someone can chop while someone else cooks.

You can make mistakes.

You can experiment.

You can create something together and then share it.

That's wellbeing too.

And it's very different from everyone sitting separately looking at screens while dinner arrives at the front door.

Again, we aren't saying never order takeaway.

We're saying don't let convenience remove every opportunity to participate in your own life.

The same principle applies to our bodies

For generations, technology has been removing physical effort from everyday living.

Cars replaced walking.

Escalators replaced stairs.

Delivery services replaced carrying shopping.

Remote controls saved us getting up.

Online shopping removed another reason to leave the house.

Robot vacuums can clean our floors.

And future household robots could potentially take over significantly more domestic work.

Ironically, as we've engineered movement out of our daily lives, we've simultaneously discovered just how important movement is for our health.

So now we drive everywhere, sit for much of the day - and then have to deliberately schedule exercise because our bodies aren't getting enough movement.

At Zing Wellbeing, this is exactly why we place such a strong emphasis on strength training and everyday movement.

Our bodies need to be used.

Our muscles need resistance.

Our bones need loading.

Our cardiovascular systems need activity.

And our brains benefit from physical activity too.

We weren't designed to sit still while machines do everything around us.

Perhaps doing hard things has value

There is an increasing tendency to see any form of inconvenience as something that needs fixing.

Bored?

Pick up your phone.

Don't feel like cooking?

Order something.

Don't know an answer?

Ask AI.

Don't want to clean?

Outsource it.

Don't want to walk?

Drive.

Don't want to struggle through learning something?

Find the shortcut.

But maybe we shouldn't eliminate every difficult, boring or uncomfortable experience.

Exercise can be uncomfortable.

Learning something new can be frustrating.

Cooking takes effort.

Cleaning isn't particularly exciting.

Reading a challenging book requires concentration.

Learning a language makes your brain work.

Working something out yourself can take much longer than asking AI.

And sometimes simply sitting without constant entertainment feels uncomfortable.

But not everything in life needs to provide instant pleasure.

There is something incredibly important about continuing to challenge ourselves.

This doesn't mean you need to take cold showers every morning

There is a lot of conversation in the wellness world about deliberately doing uncomfortable things - cold plunges, cold showers, extreme challenges and various other forms of "hardening" ourselves.

Some of these practices may have benefits, while some of the claims made about them run well ahead of the evidence.

But we don't need to do something extreme to introduce challenge into our lives.

Doing hard things can simply mean:

Cooking dinner when ordering something would be easier.

Going for a walk when you would rather stay on the sofa.

Doing your strength workout when motivation is low.

Learning something completely new.

Trying to remember something before reaching for your phone.

Reading a book instead of endlessly scrolling.

Having a difficult conversation.

Working through a problem before asking AI for the answer.

Trying a new recipe.

Learning a skill.

Taking the stairs.

Doing something creative.

Being bored occasionally.

The point isn't suffering.

The point is participating.

Because the future could become incredibly comfortable

Imagine life 10 or 20 years from now.

A robot cleans your home.

It does your washing.

It prepares your meals.

Your autonomous car drives you around.

Your groceries arrive automatically.

AI manages your calendar.

AI writes your emails.

AI organises your finances.

AI plans your holidays.

AI researches everything.

AI answers every question.

Entertainment is available instantly and endlessly.

In theory, we could end up with an enormous amount of leisure time.

And perhaps that will be wonderful.

Perhaps we will use that time to exercise, spend time with people we love, cook beautiful food, travel, learn, create, volunteer, build things and explore the world.

But there's another possible version.

We could simply move less, think less, create less and consume more.

And that is the version we need to be conscious of.

We believe wellbeing happens in the real world

This is something we feel strongly about at Zing Wellbeing.

Technology can be incredible.

Apps can help us exercise.

Online communities can connect us.

AI can help us learn.

Devices can give us useful information about our health.

But ultimately, wellbeing happens in the real world.

It's lifting the weights.

It's walking outside.

It's chopping the vegetables.

It's cooking dinner.

It's learning the recipe.

It's sitting around a table talking to your family.

It's laughing with friends.

It's reading the book.

It's remembering someone's birthday.

It's trying something you're not very good at.

It's using your hands.

It's using your muscles.

It's using your brain.

It's being present.

It's experiencing life rather than simply optimising it.

This is also why Zing takes a holistic approach to wellbeing.

Food matters.

Strength matters.

Movement matters.

Sleep matters.

Mental wellbeing matters.

Brain health matters.

Relationships matter.

Purpose matters.

Creativity matters.

They aren't separate pieces of health.

They interact.

Use the technology - but don't stop using yourself

Perhaps that's the message we need as technology becomes increasingly powerful.

Use AI.

Use the dishwasher.

Get your groceries delivered when you're incredibly busy.

Order takeaway sometimes.

Use GPS.

Let technology remove the things that genuinely don't add value to your life.

But be intentional about what you do with the time and effort you've saved.

Don't outsource every opportunity to think.

Don't remove every reason to move.

Don't stop cooking.

Don't stop learning.

Don't stop creating.

Don't stop solving problems.

Don't stop talking to people.

Don't stop challenging yourself.

Don't spend your entire life looking for the easiest possible option.

Because perhaps a healthy life isn't the life requiring the least effort.

Perhaps it's a life containing the right kinds of effort.

At Zing Wellbeing, that's the kind of longevity we're interested in.

Not simply adding more years to our lives.

But staying strong enough to use our bodies, mentally sharp enough to use our brains, connected enough to enjoy the people around us and curious enough to keep learning, creating and participating in the world.

Technology should help us live that life.

It shouldn't live it for us.

And you can join the Zing Wellbeing app here