Friction is all those little place in your life that don’t work quite like they should. Things like not being to find your keys, the lock button on your car that won’t work, the printer that jams, that guy who stands just a little too close in the elevator, being winded when you haul in your groceries.
Work as hard as you can to remove that friction from your life. It creates drag, it slows you down. It chips, little by little, at your energy and enthusiasm. It makes things harder than they have to be.
Sebastian Marshall tipped me off this stellar tactic: designate a couple days a month a “Consolidation Day” and do nothing but consolidate and complete, maintain and prepare the projects and processes that are going on in your life.
Some examples:
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Do maintenance tasks
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Clean things, and ensure they’re in good working condition
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Finish up as many projects as possible and get them off your plate.
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Write short notes or thank-you’s to people you’ve crossed paths with. It doesn’t take much to maintain a relationship, but it’s one of the easiest things to lose track of in day-to-day life.
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Smooth off any rough edges in your routine; pre-plan (or pre-prepare) meals, create templates for emails or documents you have to produce regularly, and in short, use the time to figure out how to work smarter.
Friction is simply inefficient; it wastes your time and attention on trivia. Where can you sandblast some drag out of your life and concentrate that energy on more important things?
[ssbp]
