The Asymmetric Power of Friction in Habit Formation

It still feels like the beginning of the year even though suddenly it’s mid March….but I've been thinking a lot about my habits in 2025—how I envision the new ones I want to form, how I break end up breaking or abandoning them, and how damn hard they are to embed and keep.

Recently though I reflected on how I managed to identify an angle that kind of worked in my habit formation journey – I saw that small changes in friction can have an outsized impact on our behaviour. I had a bit of a theory going: adding even a small amount of friction can have an outsized reduction a bad habit, while reducing friction makes a good habit more likely, but not at the same scale.

In anything psychology related there rarely is a one-to-one relationship. The apparent habit formation imbalance I saw in my life got me fascinated and took me down a rabbit hole who’s outcome I thought was worth sharing.

What Does the Research Say?

This theory / idea aligns with behavioural science principles. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein’s work on “sludge” vs. “nudge” confidently suggests that increasing friction (sludge) discourages behaviours, while decreasing friction (nudge) encourages them. This would resonate with most people as common sense. More interestingly though, if you combine that assumption with the idea of Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky), people are more sensitive to perceived losses than equivalent gains. So, adding a barrier to a bad habit can feel like a much bigger deal than making a good habit easier.

Take smartphone usage: studies have shown that adding a 30-second delay before opening social media apps significantly reduces usage. That small increase in friction can have an outsized benefit (ie potentially avoiding a 10min doom scrolling session). On the other hand, making it easier to meditate with a voice on demand app helps, but not to the same dramatic extent.

James Clear, a pop culture pioneer in habit formation via his best seller book Atomic Habits, talks about the concept of activation energy—the effort required to start an action. His work supports the idea that a small increase in difficulty can dramatically reduce unwanted behaviours, whereas making good habits easier helps but often requires additional reinforcement.

How This Plays Out in Real Life

I’ve tested this theory on myself in small ways and suggest anyone looking to make a change in their life could start with little experiments like these to see how it could work for them:

• Breaking bad habits: I stopped keeping easy-to-eat, low-satiety snacks (like corn chips) in the pantry. It was a conscious decision to stop buying (after of course I finished the last batch during TV show binge). Then in a future TV or movie viewing session If I really want them, I now have to go out and buy them. That extra effort? Enough to kill the impulse 99% of the time. Anything food related – if it’s not within easy reach, you’ll unlikely buy it and then consume it.
• Reducing distractions: At work, I keep my phone in the bottom drawer instead of on my desk. If it’s not in eyeline I notice it’s not going to be a dopamine trigger and I don’t feel a need to check something anywhere near as much. I also see greater bouts of focused attention and concentration.
• Encouraging good habits: My gym gear is always set out the night before the next days planned early morning workout. When I wake up, there's no decision fatigue. The path to action is as smooth as possible to get out the door and not get caught in ‘not today, you’re tired, you need more sleep - go back to bed’ mindset.
• Tech interventions: I use an app that adds a deliberate delay before opening social media. It’s just 20 - 30 seconds, but that’s often enough for me to think, Do I really want to open this or need this now?—and many times, the answer is no. My usage is between 30 – 55% lower per week than it was before applying this friction / intervention.

What This Means for Habit Design

If you're looking to change a habit, consider this:

1. For bad habits, even a tiny increase in friction can be powerful. Make it annoying or inconvenient to do the thing you want to stop.
2. For good habits, reducing friction helps, but often not enough on its own. You might need additional motivators like rewards, routines, or accountability.

Sometimes focusing on the ‘bad’ / inconvenient behaviours you want to change might lead to a ‘better’ version of yourself than trying to create new positive habits.

So have you noticed this asymmetry in your own habits? What small changes have made a big impact on your behaviour?

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