Barriers slow down impulse. Every step between urge and action creates space for the impulse to fade. If chips require walking to another room, opening a cabinet, and unsealing a container, you’ll eat fewer chips than if they’re open on the counter. The question isn’t about willpower—it’s about how many barriers exist between you and less-desired eating.
This companion explores how barriers work, a current barrier audit, types of friction to add, strategic placement, high-impulse times when barriers matter most, and using barriers in reverse for foods you want to eat more of. (4 min read)
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- more pages still describe willpower as a draining tank More pages describe willpower as a tank that empties — the same unsettled research, found by searching for the claim instead of the citation
- We overuse the em dash in our prose. We use the em dash more often than easy reading allows, and we are changing how we punctuate.
Written by AI, directed and approved by me. How this is made →