Time as Cognitive Architecture
Temporal Friction is distinct from task friction. Task friction adds cognitive work — reading a diff, injecting an error, naming a variable manually. Temporal Friction adds nothing except time. The time is not idle; it is structural. It creates the space in which the practitioner's analytical faculties can activate before the reflexive acceptance impulse executes.
The distinction matters because temporal friction is the easiest intervention to implement and the hardest to maintain. The practitioner who adopts the Ten-Minute Rule faces no additional cognitive demand during the delay — only the discomfort of not clicking. The discomfort is the signal that the intervention is working. The impulse to click is System 1's insistence on closure. Resisting the impulse is System 2's assertion of sovereignty.
Excavation Note: Temporal Friction is the architectural equivalent of the cooling-off period in consumer protection law. The principle is identical: when the transaction is irreversible and the pressure to commit is high, mandatory delay protects the party with less information.