How to make friction your friend this year

Photo by Sandeep Singh on Unsplash

Already tired of social media and your inbox filled with “new year, new you!” content right now? 

While I’ve got no qualms about making a fresh start of things, I find it helpful to remember that focusing on just one small reframe can still make a massive difference. So with that in mind…

Let’s talk about how you can make friction your friend this year.

This can be done simply by being more intentional around adding and removing friction from different aspects of your life.

For example, I recently deleted email and most social media apps from my phone as I don’t want them to be so easily accessible. I’m also working on logging out of all of my social media accounts and email when I’m “done” using them on my computer.

Adding friction can be an easy way to fight back against addictive impulsiveness.

Now I’m forced to “think” about what I’m doing before I actually do it. It’s a small and quick change but one that’s already making a world of difference in both my focus and energy level.

The same process can be applied to removing friction from your life.

For example, I’ve been trying to add yoga to my exercise routine but felt like I could just never find the time to make it consistently to a class. So rather than continuing to fail to “find the time”, I decided I would remove the friction of having to make it to a class. 

A quick YouTube search – after a well considered, conscious choice to log in – uncovered a 15 minute yoga for tennis players routine that I’ve started to do first thing in the morning. 

Now rather than spending the first 15-20 minutes of my day mindlessly scrolling on my phone, I’m starting off with a much more useful and enjoyable routine.

So before the motivation of a new year officially falls by the wayside, ask yourself…

Where could adding or removing friction improve your life?

It’s a small reframe but hopefully one that makes a big difference in your life this year.