The Minimum Effective Dose
“Instead of always thinking, Don’t just stand there, do something, we should at least consider thinking, Don’t just do something, stand there.”
This quote from Brad Stulberg’s book, The Practice of Groundedness, got me thinking about how many of us, especially those who are driven and goal-oriented, have a hard time just standing still and being satisfied with doing “enough.” Our tendency is to choose action over rest, effort over ease, complexity over simplicity, and doing more over less. As Brad Stulberg puts it, “We strive to do more and more, faster and faster, in an effort to get better and better.”
When working towards our goals, we rarely ask “what would this look like if it was easy?” The simplest, most straightforward path to goal achievement is often dismissed as ineffective or lazy. Instead, we tend to take the path of most resistance, the one that is unnecessarily complex, and that requires greater effort, resources, and motivation. And then, if our progress is slow or results aren’t forthcoming, we become impatient and feel a strong urge to do something to expedite the process. We assume we’re probably not doing enough, and recklessly throw “more” at the issue: a more advanced strength training program to reach your squat PR. More hours on the bike to get ready for your race. A more restrictive diet and more cardio to achieve your weight loss goal.
Ironically, it’s often our attempt to optimize and to do way more than is necessary that derails our progress and leads to burnout or injury What most of us need instead is patience, and a commitment to doing less than we are capable of on any given day.
While it might seem counterintuitive, the best way to move fast and experience massive gains is to go about it slowly, with small, consistent steps, which Brad Stulberg calls “a gentle yet firm persistence.” For most things in life, the formula for success is to apply the appropriate amount of effort and intensity consistently over time. In fact, the larger and more meaningful the goal or endeavor, the more important “proper pacing” and consistency becomes over intensity, which is only sustainable in short bursts.
If you’re someone who has a history of overdoing it or working yourself to the point of injury or exhaustion, it might be helpful to determine what the “minimum effective dose” is for what you want to achieve. The minimum effective dose represents the smallest amount of work and effort required to achieve the desired result. Put another way, it’s doing as little as required, but as much as necessary.
The minimum effective dose is a mindset that places a higher value on long-term consistency over short-term intensity. It’s about having the discipline to stop one rep short most days (even when you’re feeling good). It’s about prioritizing being consistently “good enough” over occasionally great. It’s about not doing more today than you can recover from by tomorrow. It’s about making little deposits day after day and allowing your consistency to compound over time.
While it sounds easy in theory, actually sticking to the minimum effective dose can be surprisingly difficult. This is especially true if you’re conditioned to believe that more work and effort are positively correlated with better results, which of course is not always the case. It requires real discipline to resist the temptation to do more, and to trust that what you are doing is enough. The minimum effective dose (if you’re doing it right) likely won’t look very impressive on any given day, and it lacks the excitement and extreme highs and lows that accompany heroic efforts. You might wonder if you’re doing enough, and feel like you could have done a little more most days. And that’s the point. Sure, you probably could do more, but at what cost? If what you’re doing is already working and sufficient to achieve your goals, is the potential benefit that might come from doing more worth the risk? Remember, doing more for the sake of doing more isn’t necessarily better or a sign that you’re making progress. It’s just doing more, and it comes at a cost. The investment might not be worth the return.
This is not to say we should just coast through training and life and never exert any effort. Anything worth achieving will require some sacrifice, and often some planned periods of intense effort and exertion. However, you need to make sure you are taking wise, deliberate action, and not just reacting in the moment because you lack the discipline or patience to stay the course.
Here are some questions to ask yourself before giving in to the temptation to “add more:”
- Why do I feel compelled to do more? (Because of what someone else is doing, or to impress others?)
- Is what I am doing working? Am I already on the right trajectory to achieve what I want?
- What is the least amount of work required to achieve my desired result?
- What would it look like to slow down whatever it is I’m already doing by 10 percent?
- What would this look like if it was easy?
If you realize after answering these that what you’re doing is already sufficient, you just might need the discipline to “stand there” and let time take care of the rest. Most of us would probably be surprised at how little is actually required to achieve what we want, provided that it is done consistently over time. Remember, more ≠ better results. The minimum effective dose, while not very impressive or exciting, it’s often the most sustainable and reliable way to get where you want to go.