Friction
December 13th, 2021
I have long had a mental model about "friction" and used it to improve different areas of my life. Decided to write about the two primary factors of friction I've noticed, along with examples of how I've seen them take shape in my own life.
Static vs kinetic friction
In high school physics, I learned about static and kinetic friction and that the static friction between two surfaces is always greater than the kinetic friction between those surfaces. If a box is on the floor, it takes more force to get the box moving from a standstill than it does to keep an already moving box moving. I find this to be true with many things in my life, and try to apply this principle often.
One of the ways I see this manifest itself in my life is through my diet. I try my best to eat healthy, but like many of us, don't do the best job all the time. I've found a pattern to help me keep to it though: It's so much easier to make the healthy choice when I've already made healthy choices that day. On the contrary, once I eat something unhealthy it becomes SO HARD to get in the "healthy eating mindset" again that day. The thought becomes, "Well I already ate thing X, what's thing Y going to do?" To combat this, I developed a consistent, healthy morning routine that gets me energized and feeling good. By focusing on starting the day right, I set up the rest of my day to be healthier and more productive. Productivity begets productivity. A common example I hear about is that making your bed every morning will set the tone for the rest of your day, and I completely agree (TIL this idea comes from this best-selling book).
Coefficient of friction
Something else I remember learning about in high school physics is the coefficient of friction (also referred to as μ). Friction is equal to μ * m * g where m is mass and g is gravity. The higher the coefficient of friction, the more force it takes to move the surface(s). But by lowering the coefficient of friction, motion becomes easier to achieve. I believe the best way to "lower μ" is by reducing the number of obstacles that stand in the way of doing something productive.
The most timely example of this is how I rewrote this website last week (blog post on this coming soon!) The previous iteration of this website required me to make code changes (and subsequently deploy) every time I wanted to add content to the website. This took forever, and often the inspiration to jot down a thought would dissipate before I got the chance to log in to my computer, open VS code, write down my thought + surrounding JSX, and push to Github (crazy right?) But with this new website rewrite, I don't require any code changes at all. My website is backed by Notion (spoilers!) so now I can write in my preferred editor and my content is updated and published automatically. I already find myself writing more now with this new functionality, but time will tell. But the lesson is that by reducing the number of steps it takes to do something (μ), you can decrease the amount of required mental effort (force) and hopefully increase your output (motion).
P.S. If you don't remember these concepts from high school physics or never took physics, don't be self-conscious! Had to do a bit of a refresher myself to write this post :-)