Momentum As An Environment

I was on a run last week and about halfway through saw an older lady bringing her trash bin back into her house. I noticed that there was a second bin that she was going to move next, and the thought crossed my mind to help her with it. That’s the type of person I want to be - kind, thoughtful, and helpful.

But at this point it was still just an idea. I didn’t make a choice to do it. And as I neared her driveway I talked myself out of it, rationalizing that “it’s not a big deal” and even “I don’t want to make her think she’s incapable of doing it herself”. Once I passed, I became fascinated with why I didn’t stop and help It was simple enough to do, but something got in the way. And that’s when I realized that one of the great forces of environment was going against me: Momentum.

When we’re in the middle of doing something, it takes mental effort to stop doing one thing and start doing the next. There’s a cost to task switching. What’s interesting is how the power of momentum was actually in effect in two ways. On one hand, I was already running which made it easy for me to keep going. Momentum helps to sustain an action without needing to make the conscious choice to continue. Alternatively, that momentum was working against me stopping to help this woman. Momentum can actually functions as a point of resistance for other actions. The resistance presents as being occupied with something else, which adds friction to transitioning over to something new. 

As I had this realization, I saw how it happened earlier in the run too. There’s another older woman named Rosemary who loves gardening, and I often see her on her hands and needs landscaping on the street. I had the idea to let her know that she inspires me as I passed, but I didn’t. Being occupied with doing something else got in the way. So I made a point that on my way back when I passed her again, I’d stop and interact with her. And I did! It started with a conscious choice, was followed by stopping my run so I was no longer occupied doing something else, and concluded with a meaningful conversation.

This is a lesson for anything that we want to take action on. It takes more effort to do it when we’re presently occupied with something else. It’s easier to get to the gym when you first stop scrolling. It’s easier to focus on a work project when you close your email. Decreasing your activity opens up the opportunity to fill that space with doing something else, something more intentional. It’s not necessarily about getting momentum to work in your favor, but at least get it to stop working against you.

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