When the friction is the point
writinghacks.substack.com
When the friction is the point
Despite some of its mysterious qualities, friction remains a useful mental model because it captures how our environment can impede our movement.
Shane Parrish • The Great Mental Models Volume 2: Physics, Chemistry and Biology
The aspiration for a “frictionless” experience is shortsighted. A truly frictionless experience, where you avoid or deny every ounce of struggle, is mindless. Friction makes you feel the texture of a process, and the texture helps you remember what you’ve experienced. Without friction, teams are liable to move too fast, and edges that are too smoot
... See moreScott Belsky • The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture
If you look at the most habit-forming products, you’ll notice that one of the things these goods and services do best is remove little bits of friction from your life. Meal delivery services reduce the friction of shopping for groceries. Dating apps reduce the friction of making social introductions. Ride-sharing services reduce the friction of get
... See moreJames Clear • Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller
sari added
This is a difficult problem, because you don't want to completely eliminate your horror of making something lame. That's what steers you toward doing good work. You just want to turn it off temporarily, the way a painkiller temporarily turns off pain.
Paul Graham • Early Work
Ajinkya Wadhwa added
When you slow down and really break a topic down, you start to realize there isn't enough clarity in saying, "I want to write about X." And the reason so many writers sit down to write, only to give up 5 minutes later, is because this is the first BIG realization they have to confront. They thought they knew what they wanted to write about, only to... See more
ship30for30.com • How to Start Writing Online: The Ship 30 for 30 Ultimate Guide
My product won’t write sentences for you. The slow process of writing is what clarifies thought, shapes identity, and cultivates a lens to the world. Writing is the whole point; it isn’t a chore to optimize, it’s an infinite game.