The Principle of Least Effort

Do you want to get better at this?

Nov 05, 2026

How can you design the best sidewalk for an area? The smart answer is: don’t design it at all. Let it be shaped by people deciding where to walk themselves. These desire paths reveal the optimal sidewalk placement.

This powerful principle applies to many areas where our minds are involved:

Designing apps: making the user journey as easy as possible
Workplace processes: reducing friction so people actually follow the process
Predicting behaviour: assuming people will choose the easiest route

Last week, I needed to write to customer service. I could’ve drafted it myself or taken the easy way and given it to AI, which would’ve written it in mere seconds. But each time we outsource our thinking and take the path of least effort, we risk neglecting the chance to use our skills.

Where is the threshold? When should you ask AI, and when should you do it yourself?

I ask myself: Do I want to get better at this? It’s not about protecting every skill, but only the ones I care about. This perspective helps me decide.

May 6, 2025: Choosing between the short and long course in Osaka (which route do you want to take?)

I write articles on my own, as I want to improve. However, drafting concise e-mails to customer support to get a refund is not something I want to invest my time in. Also, AI can sometimes handle the emotional side better than we can, especially when we don’t take the time to calm down first. In this case, AI prepared messages for customer support and helped me with a few follow-up messages until I got the money back. I was just rewriting tiny bits before sending.

Outsourcing everything to AI can erode what you were once able to do on your own, including skills you care about. The awareness that it’s happening is key. When we are aware that we decided to follow the easiest path, that’s the first step towards deciding whether to keep it or change it.

Are you aware of when you choose the easy way?

Thanks for reading,
— Michał

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