A surprising way to make healthy choices easier

Weekly technique
Published March 17, 2024

Having trouble staying active? Snacking more than you’d like? Scrolling when you should be sleeping? All totally normal—we humans love the path of least resistance. That’s where the science-backed idea of “friction” comes in. Let us explain.


Try this!

  1. Think about things you want to stop doing. For example: Snacking on sweets after dinner, Scrolling social media before bed, or Sleeping in instead of taking a walk.    2. How does your space make it easier to keep doing those things? For example: Cookies are kept front and center in the pantry. My phone is always next to me in my bedroom.  I can snooze my alarm and quickly fall back asleep.  3. Brainstorm ways to make one of the behaviors harder to do—then make a plan. For example: I’ll move cookies to the back of a rarely used cabinet—and I’ll keep a fruit bowl on the counter for snacking.
  1. Think about things you want to stop doing. For example: Snacking on sweets after dinner, Scrolling social media before bed, or Sleeping in instead of taking a walk.    2. How does your space make it easier to keep doing those things? For example: Cookies are kept front and center in the pantry. My phone is always next to me in my bedroom.  I can snooze my alarm and quickly fall back asleep.  3. Brainstorm ways to make one of the behaviors harder to do—then make a plan. For example: I’ll move cookies to the back of a rarely used cabinet—and I’ll keep a fruit bowl on the counter for snacking.

Let’s dive a little deeper…

Fact: The easier it is to do something, the more likely you are to do it. So if you tend to default to whatever less-healthy behavior or thing that’s right in front of you or takes the least effort—e.g. late-night snacking, scrolling, snoozing—it’s understandable!

It’s also hackable. By making the behaviors you want to stop more difficult—behavioral scientists call it “adding friction”—healthier options become more appealing and it’s more likely that you’ll actually do them. That may look like taking a different route home so you don’t pass a fast-food spot if you’ve got leftovers at home, portioning out sweets from a bigger bag so you stick to one serving, or charging your phone where it’s uncomfortable to scroll, like on your dresser instead of bedside table.

This doesn’t mean you can’t ever hit the drive-thru, snack on sweets, scroll in bed, or anything else. Just think of this strategy as a way to interrupt the automatic (and natural) desire to do what’s easy in the moment and nudge yourself toward what will help you reach your goals in the long run.