Design your life with friction to steer your own behavior

Tech companies know you’re trained to grab your phone the second it lights up. So they remove every obstacle—one-click logins, bright color icons—to keep you scrolling. But you can flip the script. Take Sarah, a freelance designer who felt she never had time for creativity. She started by covering her phone’s home button with a small sticker—instantly her instinctive thumb swipe became a conscious thought. Then she added a one-second launch delay to her social media apps. What seemed trivial turned out to be a game-changer. She noticed she had to pause, take a breath, and often realized she didn’t want to open the app after all.

Businesses call these tactics “choice architecture” or “friction design.” Casinos don’t have clocks so you lose track of time. Airlines play uplifting music on arrival to encourage spending. You can use the same principles for good: add small hurdles to unwanted phone habits. Those micro-choices accumulate into big changes.

Next, you might remove apps from your lock screen or turn your brightness down on habit apps. Or you could keep your favorite book on your nightstand instead of your phone. Each adjustment slows the autopilot impulse and invites a moment of mindfulness.

Within days, you train your brain to choose better. And that’s the ultimate lesson from business’s playbook: friction isn’t always bad, especially when it helps you live by your own design.

Think of each annoying habit as a business problem. What speed bumps—like stickers on buttons or digital launch delays—could solve it? Start with one action you do without thought, add a small obstacle, and test it. Notice how often it stops your impulse and tweak the obstacle until it does. You’ll be designing your own life with intentional friction.