I was in a rest period of life earlier this year. I purposefully paused all projects, didn’t do much writing, and took it easy on myself for a few months. My life basically consisted of work and the bare necessities for life. It was actually fantastic and satisfying.

To better serve my rest period, I also set an intention to reduce friction in my life. I say “reduce friction” because I don’t want to give the wrong impression. Specifically, I wasn’t trying to increase productivity or maximize every minute of my time — these aren’t bad things to do, but they’re not what I mean.

My goal to reduce friction meant to make life more easeful, and by doing so, more enjoyable. Changes I made weren’t necessarily big, either.

I realized I’m constantly evaluating and refining my processes at work, why wouldn’t I do the same thing for my home life too?

For example, one issue I identified early in this process was the iPhone. A few months prior, I’d switched from Android to iPhone because of the Apple Watch Series 8. But this intention to reduce friction made me realize how much friction the iPhone was creating for me. I decided 5 months was plenty long enough to make an informed decision that I didn’t want to use an iPhone after all, so I switched back. This relieved a surprising amount of friction with my phone, though the trade-off was slight friction with my wearable.

Here’s how I’m reducing friction in my life to find more space and ease, and how you might be able to, too.

Step 1: Pay attention

The first step is to simply pay attention. Every day, I was experiencing small annoyances that added up over time. This could be happening to you as well.

Pay attention to the tasks you do on a regular basis that are inconvenient, annoy you, or seem more difficult and complicated than they have to be. It might not be every day and it might not even be a big deal, but it’ll be something that keeps cropping up. I was also able to identify places of friction when items or tasks piled up.

Here’s one example of friction I experienced every week (I’m not exaggerating):

1. The shower drain clogged.
2. I wanted to avoid harsh chemicals, so I tried a bunch of natural, multi-step tricks I found online, including salt, baking soda, vinegar, hot water.
3. The shower drain would clear up and then clog again a short time later.
4. I inevitably used the harsh chemicals anyway.
5. The shower drain would clog a week later.
6. I’d try natural remedies thinking the chemicals from last time would enable them to work.
7. Repeat starting at #3.

I knew this had to change.

What are some things you keep having to do that make you feel like things are harder than they have to be or make you think, Why do I keep doing this?

Step 2: Evaluate the situation and potential options

Once friction is identified, consider potential causes and options.

One of the first things I noticed when I started this process was that I felt too busy in the morning because I was testing temperature measuring devices to write a review. Testing gadgets actually requires a lot of energy, thought, and time, and I was already 4+ months in. I decided one more blog about these devices wasn’t worth the extra effort, so I stopped the testing process and didn’t write the review. It was freeing to give myself permission to do less and let go of “the plan.”

For the clogged drain in the tub, this step was easy: My husband and I used handmade bar soaps and hair products. They made my skin and hair feel wonderful, and I didn’t need nearly as much moisturizer as I did when I was using conventional soaps. But the exfoliating bits and solid fats were obviously the reason our drain was constantly backing up.

This was a huge point of friction in my life, and I was tired of it. So I moved to step 3.

Step 3: Take appropriate action

For a while, I was in the habit of identifying a point of friction and maybe even think of solution, but stopping there. My husband and I might say to each other, “Ya know, I/we should really…” but then not do anything.

This isn’t helpful. Actually, maybe that makes it worse because now, not only is the thing annoying, but it’s also annoying that I haven’t resolved it even though I want to and know how.

So if I do steps 1 and 2, I now make sure to follow through with step 3.

With the clogged tub, I swapped out our hair care and body soaps after finding satisfactory replacements. My skin and hair still feel great, our soaps and packaging are still Earth-friendly, and I no longer have a weekly battle with the drain. Win-win!

The drain, luckily, was an easy fix. But not all situations will have straightforward solutions. I often have to try several different options before finding one that actually worked well.

Important notes about this process

When it’s laid out like this, the process seems simple and straightforward, but it often isn’t.

The human element

With the shower drain example, I knew the handmade soaps were causing an issue. But I really wanted to keep using them, so I ignored the clogging drain until I couldn’t anymore.

It’s easy to say, “Oh, just fix it!” But sometimes we have reasons to want things the way we want them, and we might have trouble when it doesn’t work the way we want it to. With the drain, I probably spent too much time in denial, hoping it would get better without me having to change soaps, but that’s ok. That’s part of the process too. Before I accepted that I had to switch to liquid soap, I had to try different clog removers and tools, plus different soaps from the company I liked.

Even though it might feel like we’re sacrificing something at the time, the good news is, we can often find a good solution if we keep at it. And we may like the next thing even better than the last.

Be prepared for a little trial and error

Sometimes I think the solution I come up with is totally brilliant, but it doesn’t work as I expected.

We have a large, floor-to-ceiling pantry cabinet in our kitchen that is deep, with 3 tall shelves. It’s inconvenient to store anything because things get lost in the back, and a lot of vertical space is wasted (see left image below).

I thought the best solution was to buy a set of wire drawers to mount inside it. Because the cabinet is tall, I was able to buy a set of drawers that had two layers, utilizing the vertical space (see right image below).

This didn’t work out because of our kitchen’s layout: The only place for the garbage can is next to this cabinet, which means it blocks the cabinet door from opening all the way. To make the in-cabinet drawers work, we had to move the garbage can outside of the kitchen.

I placed a smaller garbage bin under the sink, but for larger or stinky items, we would have to exit the kitchen and go around the counter where the covered bin was.

This configuration caused a lot of friction in my life: I was constantly throwing away trash that someone left on the counter because having the garbage can outside the kitchen was so inconvenient. Eventually, I put it back where it used to be.

But to do that, I needed to solve the issue with pantry storage. I didn’t want to go back to not being able to find anything in there either. After a lot of research and considering options, I placed 2 shelves against the back and side of the cabinet (to make an L) for canned goods and other items I don’t use all the time. I use the open space for taller or larger items like bags of chips.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a huge improvement for the pantry, helps me see the contents easier, and the garbage can lives in the kitchen where it belongs.

3 more examples

If you need a little inspiration, here are a few more examples.

The coat closet

Step 1: I’m not sure why, but I seriously dislike hanging clothes and I got irritated every time I got home and had to hang up my coat.

Step 2: I didn’t want to leave my outerwear lying around, but hangers weren’t working. I realized hooks were the best option for what I wanted.

Step 3: Instead of storing jackets in the entryway closet, I set up it up as a hall tree or locker: I placed a shoe bench inside and used heavy duty, renter-friendly Command hooks for our jackets, hats, and my purse.

The unusable drawer in the fridge

Step 1: One of the bottom drawers in the fridge only opened about 1/3 way because the fridge door is so close to the wall that it doesn’t open all the way. Trying to get anything in or out of the drawer was aggravating, and sometimes we would put something in and it was too difficult to get out, so it would expire in there.

Step 2: I considered simply not using the drawer in the fridge, but that was a waste of space in our crowded fridge.

Step 3: I removed the drawer entirely and use that spot as a shelf instead of a drawer. It’s perfect for thawing meat.

The paper towel holder

Step 1: The paper towel holder sat on the counter and was constantly in the way or getting wet when we washed dishes. It also looked messy and seemed out of place.

Step 2: I wanted to find a new location for it that was easily accessible but not in the way.

Step 3: I mounted the paper towel holder under the cabinets so it’s still within reach but off the counters. Much to my satisfaction, my husband remarked at how much more convenient it was.

In closing

These are mostly small things, but all the little inconveniences add up throughout the day. You’d be surprised how much smoother life feels after I spent a few weeks addressing these little issues.

During previous times I’ve focused my attention on these little things, I’ve also:

• Unsubscribed from catalogs to reduce physical junk mail.
• Unsubscribed from email lists to reduce digital junk mail.
• Canceled (and now avoid) monthly subscription boxes if most items ended up in the donation bin.
• Found new software for certain tasks or updated settings.

These take time, but they’ve been totally worth not having to deal with the onslaught of unwanted mail.

I’m still paying attention to friction when it pops up, but this more focused process was only a few months of focused attention. It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s been more than worth it for me.

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