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You begin every day with the goal of being fully productive, fully present, and fully

engaged in your work. But for the moment you hear the alarm, a thousand small

interruptions hamper your progress.

It feels as if some unseen force resists your every move.

Your energy level is low, so you hit snooze.

Just one time.

Then you wonder if you can still squeeze in a workout. After chiding yourself for a minute or two, you decide to skip the run. You sort through the dryer looking for a clean pair of socks. While munching down a bagel, you sneak a look on

Facebook to see if anybody liked your last post. Then you click on Celebrity Diet Secrets,

then a news article, then you check email. You might drive a little too fast so you can hit

Starbucks before work, but you're still 10 minutes late. Even before you sit down at

your desk, you're already stressed, already behind on your day, and feeling overwhelmed.

And it's only Monday.

By the end of the week you've given up on your most important priorities, worked late twice,

and have settled for the seemingly unreachable goal of getting caught up on your email by 5 p.m.

After another weekend that went by way too fast, you hit the snooze button again and start the process all over.

Is there a hidden force trying to sabotage your productivity?

In fact, there is.

Author Stephen Pressfield calls it the resistance.

But a physicist would refer to it as friction.

...