Sometimes it pays to slow down.
Other times, it pays to speed up.
This is the concept of friction.
Some things are easy.
Some things are hard.
Usually, the things which are bad for you are easy.
The things which are good for you are hard.
This is where we should flip the script.
Make the good things easy and make the bad things hard.
Reduce friction in these areas
Saving & Investing
“Pay yourself first”. The three most important words in managing your financial life.
Make your savings automatic.
Every month, I set an amount that goes into my “savings” bucket.
I don’t save what’s left over after I spend.
I spend what’s left over after I’ve saved.
The same applies for investments. They happen automatically. No need for action or intervention.
Health
I don’t have snacks in my kitchen.
Well, snacks that I like, anyway. I’m glad my snack preferences are different from my wife.
But I do have fruit.
If I’m hungry, I’ll reach for the fruit.
Not for the snack.
Fitness
I never keep my exercise clothes in the closet.
They’re always folded on my table.
This makes it super easy to get out the door and go for a run or to the gym.
No friction. Only action.
Increase friction in these areas
Spending
Do you find that you make purchases on Shopee or Lazada or (e-commerce platform) that you don’t really need?
Delete your credit card info off the app.
Same for food delivery.
Introducing this little bit of friction makes it easier to resist the temptation of impulsive spending.
You’re using the vice of laziness to combat the vice of mindless spending.
Win-win.
Social Media
Log off (and touch grass, maybe?).
You’d be surprised how easy it is to doomscroll.
The social media apps on my phone can grab my attention effortlessly.
15 minutes gone to mindless scrolling.
So I log out.
When you’re faced with a login screen, you don’t have the choice to mindlessly start scrolling.
Friction.
I close the app more often than I login now.
Because it just isn’t worth the trouble.
The world is made to be as frictionless as possible.
To enable you to spend your time and money without thinking.
So add back the friction into all the places that suck your attention away.
And make it easier to do the right things instead by reducing one friction from your saving, investing, or health activities.
You’ll be surprised by the difference it makes.
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