I found a hack for difficult tasks.

It turns out I’ve been doing this for years, I just didn’t know what it was called.

Ali Abdaal talks about energising the work you do so it doesn’t drain you in his new book and this little trick is a game changer.

In order to enjoy something, there needs to be the right level of challenge.

If the challenge is too easy, like playing football against a 6-year old, it becomes boring because it’s too easy and you get disengaged, you don’t feel like doing it.

If the challenge is too hard, like shooting a football against Buffon (Italian legend, one of the greatest goalkeepers in professional football). It’ll be too difficult, you’re not going to be able to score.

If your challenge is against someone of equal quality to you, all of a sudden it becomes engaging. There is an element of competition among you. When you work hard and come out ahead, there’s an actual feeling of reward because you had to put in effort to achieve that.

Video have done this very well with skill based matchmaking. That’s what makes them addictive, people chase the feeling of a win. It’s the right level of challenge that keeps them on the game.

You can apply the same principle to your learning.

When you’re studying a topic that you dislike, you need to create a level of challenge that’s not too easy and not too hard.

Here’s how I do that.

I study with Anki flashcards. Every day I have a set number of cards to do. Honestly I don’t always enjoy it, but with this add-on my app will pause every 25 minutes and show me how many flashcards I’ve done in the last 25 minutes.

If I dislike the topic I’m doing, I get through it anyway and focus on my 25 minute record.

Every 25 minutes, I try to break the record. All of a sudden it doesn’t matter how boring the topic is, because I’m chasing a goal. The best part about this is my opponent, is me. That is by far the best level of challenge you could get.

If you’re struggling to complete a task, I suggest you create challenge within the task.

It can be literally anything.

When you hear people talk about ‘gamifying learning’ - this is what they mean. Taking what was once a mundane task and turning it into a joyful experience.

Try applying this to anything in life, I promise you’ll become more productive.