Shoveling Snow is Exhausting and Completely Pointless

Shoveling snow is often marketed as a wholesome winter activity, a way to stay fit and embrace the season. Some even go as far as calling it enjoyable. These people are either lying to themselves or have found a way to make manual labor sound romantic. There is nothing fun about shoveling snow. Shoveling snow is cold and exhausting.

People love to claim that it is a great workout. That would be true if lifting heavy, wet snow over and over again in freezing temperatures counted as a well-balanced fitness regimen. But it is not a workout by choice. It is a workout by necessity. It is like saying carrying ten grocery bags up three flights of stairs is an excellent way to build strength. Sure, it works, but only because there is no other option. If shoveling snow were truly a desirable form of exercise, gyms would offer driveway-clearing boot camps with simulated snowfall. They do not, because no one actually enjoys this.

Some people insist it is a mindful activity, something that lets them be present in the moment. Maybe that is true for the first few minutes, but the novelty wears off quickly. The repetitive motion is not meditative. It is monotonous. It gives you time to reflect on all the better ways you could be spending your morning. If anything, it is an exercise in frustration. The moment you clear the end of our driveway, the city plow comes barreling down the road, dumping a fresh pile of compacted ice, creating a three foot berm. Few things in life are as demoralizing as watching your hard work get erased in seconds.

People love to talk about the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing the job. For a brief moment, there is satisfaction in seeing a perfectly cleared walkway. But the feeling does not last. The next snowfall is already on the way, and in just a few hours, all that work will be undone. At least when you clean your house, you get to enjoy it before the mess returns. Shoveling snow is a task that never truly ends. It is a Sisyphean effort, one that nature always wins.

Some claim that getting outside in winter is good for mental health. Fresh air and natural light can help combat seasonal depression, they say. That may be true, but there are far better ways to enjoy the outdoors than standing ankle-deep in slush while your fingers slowly go numb. A brisk walk, a ski run, or even sitting on a patio with a hot drink are all better alternatives. There is nothing particularly rejuvenating about wrestling with a shovel while your breath freezes in the air.

If you are truly looking for a way to stay active in the winter, there are countless options that do not involve throwing your back out. A snowblower is an obvious solution, but the best choice of all is simply doing nothing. Accepting that the snow will eventually melt is a perfectly reasonable approach. Nature made the mess. Let nature clean it up.