Friction is anything that makes it annoying to do something. It's interesting that even slight annoyances
can affect our ability to do things with regularity. Therefore forming good habits and curtailing bad ones
involves identifying sources of friction related to those habits.
There are a couple of types of friction that can occur before we want to take an action:
Physical Friction:
How much physical activity is required before action is taken?
To read more, keep a book by the bed.
To control my spending, I refuse to save my credit card information for discretionary spending. Every time I buy something I have to get out my card and enter the information.
Cognitive Friction:
How many decisions, however big or small, need to be made before an action is taken?
To write more on this site, I dump all files in a flat directory so I don't have to decide where a
particular page goes in a hierarchy. I eschew tags for the same reason.
EMT's are taught to go through a checklist of contraindications before administering a drug. You don't want to be trigger happy with certain medications that could have life threatening side effects.
Of course, the greater the aversion or desire towards a particular habit is, the greater degree to which
friction will have to be increased or reduced.