What Is Friction-Maxxing? And Could It Make You Happier?

DoorDash. GPS. Amazon's same-day delivery. These are all examples of things that aim to ease inconvenience in our lives. Gone are the days when we studied paper maps before a road trip or had to navigate the aisles of a store to buy food, clothes, or pretty much anything else.

But is our dependence on technology for day-to-day tasks a bad thing? Could adding back some inconvenience, or "friction," actually make our lives better?

That's the crux of the idea behind "friction-maxxing," a term coined in a January 2026 article in The Cut by the writer Kathryn Jezer-Morton, who argued that deliberately making life a little bit more difficult is a boon for our brains and overall well-being.

What does science say about the concept of friction-maxxing? Experts say there’s some merit to the idea that a little more friction could lead to some benefits.

"When life is too frictionless, your brain goes on autopilot, which can lead to decreased focus, memory, motivation, and overall effectiveness,” says Debra Kissen, PhD, a clinical psychologist and the founder of Light On Anxiety Treatment Centers in Chicago. Research into how technology — especially smartphones — affects people suggests that overly optimizing tasks with one-click buttons and automated activities, for example, may have negative health consequences.

Higher Smartphone Use May Lower Mood

It’s convenient to check tasks off your to-do list while commuting home on the train or waiting in line for groceries. But there may be a price to pay for all that screen time.

Ever-Present Smartphones May Lower Cognitive Capacity

AI May Interfere With Critical Thinking Skills

This makes sense if you think of your brain as a muscle that needs exercise, says Caryn Sherbet, a licensed psychotherapist based in Brooklyn, New York. In other words, when you offload thinking tasks to AI or other technology, it reduces the amount of exercise your brain gets, essentially making it weaker.

The term “friction-maxxing” is not a scientific one, so it doesn’t necessarily show up in peer-reviewed research. But it’s related to mindfulness and how the brain processes rewards, which have been studied, Dr. Nelson says.

Purposely adding friction back into your day-to-day tasks creates a kind of pause, Nelson says, that shifts you out of autopilot and back into intentional control. In this way, it may support focus, memory, and emotional regulation by reducing impulsive distractions and protecting attentional bandwidth, she explains.

This process is similar to friction-maxxing. “You are basically just repeatedly exposing yourself to difficulty, to inconvenience, to friction, as a way to make those things feel more doable and less like you need to rely on some kind of technology," Sherbet says.

"Friction-maxxing is especially helpful for people who find themselves caught in habitual loops (like screen overuse or procrastination) and for anyone looking to protect their focus in high-distraction environments," Nelson says.

It's not ideal for someone who is already overwhelmed, burned out, or severely depressed, Dr. Kissen says. In those cases, too much friction can be counterproductive.

It's also probably not ideal for folks with disabilities who rely on services like grocery delivery because of physical or mental limitations, Sherbet says.

"There's no moral superiority to doing friction-maxxing versus not doing it," Sherbet says. Instead, they recommend asking yourself if you feel attached to convenience in a way that feels limiting. Use your answer to pick an area where you can strengthen the muscle of being inconvenienced and of being in discomfort.

The goal of friction-maxxing is not simply to make life harder. Rather, Sherbet says, it is best used as a tool to move you toward a desired behavior or outcome.

For example, Sherbet struggled to go grocery shopping because it felt like too big an ordeal. Instead of turning to an app to order food, Sherbet looked to increase their tolerance for this chore.

It was important to Sherbet to be able to go to the grocery store without it feeling like a big deal. "It's like, okay, I know that I want to increase my tolerance for this specific ability to do this specific task without it being so overwhelming," they say.

This approach can be really helpful in increasing somebody's sense of autonomy, their sense of mastery over something, and their sense of confidence or capability, Sherbet says.

Instead of shunning all technology or digital services at once, start small, recommends Nelson. "Identify one overly automatic behavior and insert a subtle barrier that creates space for a more intentional choice," she says.

For example:

• Shop in person. Shopping for things like groceries in person can be more time-consuming, but if you're able-bodied, it’s feasible, Sherbet says. Doing so can help you spend less time on your phone, and the physical movement can also be beneficial. If you’re up for it, consider adding an extra level of friction by skipping the self-checkout lane and checking out with a real person.
• Have face-to-face conversations. If you have to have a difficult or awkward conversation with someone (confronting your roommate about eating your leftovers, for example, or asking your manager for a raise), try having it in person rather than via text or email, Sherbet says. This may increase your sense of capability around face-to-face interactions and make them feel less stressful over time.
• Write the email. Rather than relying on a chatbot or other AI tool to construct your emails, flex your brain's "muscle" by writing them from scratch yourself. Take it one step further by writing an important or meaningful note by hand instead of electronically, Kissen says.
• Log out of apps. Clicking to open a readily accessible app can make habits like scrolling social media or ordering food nearly mindless. When you have to log in to apps each time you want to use them, it creates friction and may prompt you to be more mindful about what you’re doing, Nelson says. Similarly, she says, removing saved payment information from your devices can make you more intentional about your purchasing habits.

• Friction-maxxing is the idea of intentionally adding small amounts of effort or inconvenience back into your day as a response to how overly automated our lives have become through technology.
• There's no research yet on friction-maxxing specifically, but studies suggest that mindfulness, a related behavior, has numerous cognitive and mental health benefits. It’s also similar to exposure therapy, which can improve your ability to handle stress and anxiety.
• Potential benefits of friction-maxxing include improved focus, attention, and memory as well as an increased sense of confidence and capability.
• Examples of friction-maxxing include in-person shopping, face-to-face conversations, forgoing AI tools, and logging out of apps.