Latest / The Burnout Podcast with Fexingo: Workplace Exhaustion, Recovery, and Sustainable Careers / How Workplace Friction Can Actually Prevent Burnout
Transcript
- Lucas: You know what I've been thinking about lately, Luna? The idea that we've spent the last decade trying to remove all friction from work—making everything instant, seamless, one-click—and maybe that's actually making burnout worse. Luna: Okay, that's a provocative opening. You're saying friction—the thing we're all trying to eliminate—could be a burnout antidote? Lucas: Exactly. I'm not talking about bureaucratic friction—like needing three approvals to buy a notebook. I mean the small, physical, cognitive delays that force your brain to engage more deliberately. Think about it: when was the last time you walked to a colleague's desk instead of sending a Slack? Or handwrote a draft before typing it? Or physically went to the file cabinet instead of searching a shared drive? Those little moments of friction might actually be protecting our attention. Luna: That's interesting because I've definitely noticed that when I'm on a video call and I turn my camera off, I feel more drained. There's something about the physical presence—or lack thereof—that changes how my brain works. Lucas: Right. And there's real research backing this up. Cal Newport has written about what he calls 'effortful engagement'—the idea that when you have to exert a little effort to do something, your brain commits more deeply. There's also a 2024 study from the University of Texas that looked at what they call 'cognitive friction'—basically, the small barriers between you and the next task. They found that knowledge workers who experienced moderate levels of friction—things like having to physically move to a different room for a focus session, or even just closing a door—reported lower exhaustion at the end of the day compared to those who worked in totally frictionless, open-plan digital environments. Luna: So the friction acts like a speed bump for your brain. It forces you to slow down and commit before you dive in. Lucas: Yes. And that's the opposite of what most productivity tools are designed to do. They want you to move from one task to the next as fast as possible—instant messaging, instant file sharing, instant everything. But the cost is what researchers call 'context-switching fatigue.' Every time you jump without friction, you carry a cognitive residue from the previous task. And over eight hours, that residue accumulates into burnout. Luna: So you're saying the 'seamless' workflow is actually making us more tired? That's a hard sell for anyone who's ever been frustrated by a slow system. Lucas: I know it sounds counterintuitive. But let me give you a personal example. Last week, I decided to experiment. For five days, I stopped using Slack to ask anyone a question if they were in the same office. If I needed something from a colleague, I got up and walked to their desk. No message, no ping. Just a physical conversation. Luna: How did that go? Because I'm imagining you wasting a lot of time walking. Lucas: That's what I expected too. But what actually happened was surprising. First, I stopped asking trivial questions that I could figure out myself—because the effort of getting up made me pause and think. Second, when I did walk over, the conversations were shorter and more focused, because we both knew this was a deliberate interruption, not a casual ping. And third—and this is the key—I had fewer total interruptions. Because when you're at your desk and a Slack comes in, you feel obligated to respond immediately. But when you're walking back from a conversation, you've got two minutes of physical movement where your brain can breathe. That's a microbreak. Luna: So you're deliberately adding friction to reduce the number of interruptions, and the physical movement itself becomes a reset. How did your productivity actually measure? Lucas: I tracked my deep work hours using a simple timer. By the end of the week, I had logged about 25 percent more focused time than my average. And I felt less drained at 5 p.m. I wasn't faster at individual tasks—actually, I was slower—but I was doing more of the right work. Luna: I want to push back a little, though. For remote workers—and a lot of our listeners are remote or hybrid—this friction approach seems harder. You can't walk to someone's desk if they're in another city. So what's the remote equivalent? Lucas: Great question. For remote workers, friction has to be designed differently. One thing that works is using asynchronous communication with deliberate delays. Instead of responding to a Slack within two minutes, set a 'response window'—say, every two hours. That creates a friction barrier for yourself. Or, if you need a deep work block, physically close your laptop and work on paper for thirty minutes. That act of closing the lid is a friction ritual that signals to your brain: 'This is focus time.' Luna: I've also heard of people using separate devices for different modes—like a cheap tablet for reading and a laptop for writing—so that switching between them requires physical effort. That's friction by hardware. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the core insight: friction is not inherently bad. It's a design choice. You want friction where it encourages deliberate action, and you want to remove friction for tasks that are truly trivial. The problem is that we've been optimizing for removing all friction, everywhere. And that's burning us out. Luna: So what's the practical takeaway for someone listening right now? How do you start adding the right kind of friction? Lucas: I'd say pick one thing. Maybe this week, try the 'walk to talk' experiment if you're in an office. Or if you're remote, try handwriting your top three priorities for the day before opening any app. That single act of writing with pen and paper—which is slower and less efficient than typing—forces your brain to actually prioritize, not just list. I bet you'll notice a difference in how intentional your day feels. Luna: I like that because it's small. You're not asking people to overhaul their entire workflow. Just add one speed bump. Lucas: And that speed bump might be exactly what your brain needs to avoid the exhaustion of constant, frictionless task-hopping. I think we've been sold a myth that faster is always better. But when it comes to burnout, sometimes slower—with a little deliberate friction—is actually more sustainable. Luna: Before we wrap, I want to mention something. You know, episodes like this one—where we dig into a specific idea backed by research—take a lot of prep time. And they're only possible because of listeners who support the show. Lucas: That's right. We keep The Burnout Podcast ad-free and independent, and that's thanks to people tossing in a couple of bucks at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It genuinely makes a difference—covers hosting costs, research tools, and the time it takes to put these episodes together. Luna: If you've ever gotten a useful tip from this show, or just enjoyed the conversation, consider it. Even a few dollars a month keeps us going. And we really appreciate it. Lucas: Anyway—back to friction. One more thing I want to flag: the friction approach isn't about being anti-technology. It's about being more intentional with how you use it. For example, I've started scheduling my Slack time to only be active from 10 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 4 p.m. That's a friction barrier—it means people can't reach me instantly, but when I do respond, I'm fully present. Luna: That's a good boundary. And it forces colleagues to think about whether their question can wait. That's a form of friction for them too. Lucas: Exactly. And when everyone in a team adopts that kind of friction, the whole culture shifts toward deeper work and fewer burnout-inducing interruptions. It's not about being unavailable—it's about being available in a way that doesn't deplete you. Luna: So to sum up: friction can be a tool, not an enemy. Design it deliberately for the work that matters. Remove it for the trivial stuff. And don't feel guilty about slowing down. Lucas: That's a perfect takeaway. Next time you feel that urge to optimize another second out of your workflow, maybe ask yourself: is this friction protecting me or just slowing me down? The answer might surprise you.