Add friction to unwanted behaviors

Inserting even a small obstacle between you and an unwanted behavior meaningfully reduces how often it happens.

Why it works

The same friction mechanism that helps desired behaviors also suppresses unwanted ones. Even a minor barrier — an additional click, moving an app off the home screen, keeping a food out of sight — introduces a pause where the automatic response can be interrupted. The pause is not willpower; it is a decision point that gives the prefrontal cortex time to re-engage before the habit fires.

How to do it

1. Identify the path of least resistance to the unwanted behavior and insert a step: unplug the TV and store the remote in another room; move junk food to the back of a high shelf.
2. Log out of time-wasting apps and delete them from the home screen — even a 10-second sign-in adds enough friction.
3. Do not rely on a single friction point; layer two or three small obstacles.

Evidence

Friction addition has direct support in food choice research (Wansink and colleagues) and digital behavior research: increasing the number of steps to access a behavior reliably reduces frequency. Note that some of Wansink’s food-environment research has been retracted; the core effect is replicated but specific effect-size claims from that line of work should be treated cautiously. (observational)

Some friction research (especially Wansink lab) has faced reproducibility concerns. The effect is real and replicated by others, but exact magnitudes are uncertain.

Sources

• Cheung, Mittal & Bhattacharya (meta-analysis) on friction and food choice (see also Dayan & Bar-El 2011 for replications)

Common mistake

Adding friction that you quickly learn to navigate without thinking — friction works at first but habituates if it becomes a routine step rather than a genuine obstacle.