Add friction to attention-capture apps

Increase the effort required to open distracting apps so the default path is not the lowest-resistance one.

Why it works

Behavioral economics research (Thaler & Sunstein) demonstrates that default and friction effects are among the most powerful shapers of behavior — people consistently take the path of least resistance. Attention-economy platforms minimize friction at every touchpoint (home screen placement, one-click access, auto-play). Adding friction reverses this: moving the app off the home screen, adding a delay, or requiring a password makes the choice deliberate rather than automatic.

How to do it

1. Delete social media apps from your phone’s home screen and move them to a nested folder on the last page.
2. Log out of social media on your browser so login is required on each visit.
3. Use a browser extension (e.g., News Feed Eradicator) to remove the feed from platforms you still need for content publishing.
4. Set your phone to grayscale mode during work hours — color reduction decreases reward salience.

Evidence

Choice architecture and default/friction research (Thaler & Sunstein, Johnson et al.) consistently shows that increasing friction reduces target behavior. Studies of various friction interventions (e.g., requiring deliberate action to access tempting options) show measurable behavioral effects. (observational)

Most friction research is in economics and health decisions; direct studies on friction-based reduction of smartphone/social media use are still developing. The mechanism extrapolation is principled.

Sources

• Thaler & Sunstein (2008), Nudge — foundational work on choice architecture and defaults
• Johnson & Goldstein (2003), defaults in organ donation — demonstrating powerful default effects

Common mistake

Removing the app from the phone but accessing it freely from a browser — friction needs to be added at all access points, not just one.