I’m driving a hybrid car this week.

It measures how well you brake. Apparently, sudden braking uses more energy, while gradual braking uses less energy. This car loves energy efficiency. It grows leaves on the dashboard and gives you a braking score for every stop.

Gamified braking. It’s weird. But I try to use friction to overcome inertia for stopping. My car gives me a higher score.

And it’s a rental.

What goes up must come down. An object in motion must meet greater or equal force to stop.

Life and work in 2018 require us to become masters of friction and inertia. It’s a tough thing to overcome. If I am sliding headlong into a day of kettle chips and cheez-its, that inertia must be overcome. Likewise, I do find days where words flow onto the page and the task list is cut into bits like so much butter and onions.

Friction is necessary on days that are slip-sliding into reckless abandoned. This is why it’s so easy to get sucked into a black hole on the Internet. The force of gravity on YouTube or Facebook is deadly.

Put whatever friction into place the necessary friction to overcome bad inertia.

Good inertia is how to get a ridiculous amount of things done. Find the groove and roll with it. Overcome the centrifugal forces that destroy. Ride with the waves that give life.

And learn to know the difference.