The Power of Ease™ Part 2

Interference: The Hidden Tax on Functioning

Interference is what happens when our habits cease to serve us and instead begin to actively work against our best functioning. It’s the accumulated patterns of unnecessary tension, both in the preparation and execution of the things we do that tax every moment of activity. Interference “feels” different from simple fatigue or excess effort in that we don’t really feel it at all, despite working harder than a task requires and being somehow in our own way.

The relationship between habit and interference is straightforward but profound: habits become interference when they prevent better coordination from emerging. A habit of tensing your neck when you need to focus might have developed as a way to narrow attention, but it creates interference by restricting blood flow, compressing nerves, and requiring energy that could be used for the actual cognitive task. The interference compounds because the tension habit triggers other compensatory patterns—perhaps you start raising your shoulders to relieve the neck tension, which then restricts breathing, which then triggers anxiety, which then increases overall tension.

This compounding is what makes interference so expensive over time. You’re not just dealing with one problematic pattern but with cascading systems of compensation and counter-compensation. The longer these patterns run, the more deeply grooved they become, and the more normal they feel. What started as a slight tendency becomes an entrenched habit, which becomes a pattern of chronic interference that pervades everything you do.

Frederick Matthias Alexander called this phenomenon “end-gaining”—being so focused on outcomes that we sacrifice efficient means. When you’re end-gaining, you’ll accept any amount of interference, any quality of process, as long as you achieve your goal. This works in the short term—you can muscle through tasks despite terrible coordination—but it creates a pattern of interference that becomes more expensive with each repetition. The body and nervous system remember and reinforce whatever patterns you use most consistently, regardless of whether those patterns are optimal.

The cruel irony is that the interference feels necessary. Because it’s so deeply habitual, stopping it feels like stopping the activity itself. The person who habitually holds their breath while concentrating can’t imagine how they could concentrate without holding their breath. The interference has become inseparably linked to the activity in their nervous system. This is why people often report that more efficient coordination initially feels “wrong” or even scary—it contradicts decades of habitual interference.

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