Partitioning Friction
Dividing a resource into smaller units — wrapped portions, separate envelopes, sub-accounts — slows consumption because each partition forces a fresh decision to continue.
An everyday example
Eating fewer cookies from individually wrapped packs; spending less from money split into labelled envelopes.
What it can cost you
Sellers remove partitions to speed consumption (bulk bins, auto-refill, unlimited plans), and you remove your own by pooling.
Warning signs
- I finished the whole thing without deciding to.
- There was no natural stopping point.
One thing to do
Add partitions where you overconsume and notice when a product's design has removed them.
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