Lesson 02 · 12 min
Find the Friction
There's almost always one small step making a task impossible. It is rarely the step you'd guess.
Listen first
Listen first: the coat hanger problem
Spoken introduction · read aloud in your browser
The coat never gets hung up. Not because hanging a coat is hard, but because the sequence is: open cupboard, find free hanger, thread coat, close door.
Four steps for one coat. A hook takes one.
Multiply that across a house and you have most of the mess.
The principle
Steps cost more than effort
The number of steps between intention and completion predicts whether something happens far better than how much you want to do it.
Each step is a small decision point, and decision points are where ADHD attention leaks. Remove one and behaviour often changes without any additional motivation.
So the work is subtraction, not addition. Most people try to add a habit. You're going to delete a step.
Method
Subtract a step. Don't add a habit.
Course tool · Lesson 02
The Friction Audit
Find the step your brain refuses to do, and delete it.
Don't design the ideal system. Design the one that survives a Tuesday.
What this looks like in real life
Laundry
The clean pile never gets put away because putting away means folding. Two open baskets — tops and bottoms — and the pile disappears.
Dishes
Washing up requires clearing the sink first. Keep the sink clear and the task halves.
Post
Opening post requires finding the bin and the recycling. Put both under the same table as the post lands.
Try this
Count the steps out loud
Pick the task you avoid most. Walk through it physically and say each step aloud.
- 01Count them. Most avoided tasks have four to seven.
- 02Find the one that produces the sigh. That's the friction step.
- 03Delete it by buying, moving or lowering a standard — in that order.
Lowering the standard is a legitimate solution, not cheating.
Keep this
Three things to take.
- 01Step count predicts completion better than motivation.
- 02One deleted step often changes the whole behaviour.
- 03Lowering the standard is a valid way to remove friction.