Two-Level Enjoyment Practice
Improve the activity and your way of experiencing it
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Hudson defines efficiency as moving through an activity with less energy loss, not merely moving faster. Enjoyment is his signal for that efficiency: a well-designed activity can leave a person with more energy than they brought to it. The practice works on two levels. First, learn to enjoy the activity already happening without changing it, often by putting attention into the body, connection, or immediate experience. Second, choose activities and methods that are naturally more enjoyable. Using only the second level becomes avoidance and creates fragility around necessary discomfort. The repeatable prompt is, “how do I enjoy this 10% more,” supported by a reminder and gradual repetition rather than a demand for total enjoyment.
Origin
Hudson discovered the distinction during a two-week experiment in which refusing unenjoyable tasks forced him to learn how to enjoy taking out foul-smelling garbage.
Core principles
- 01Enjoyment is a measure of energetic efficiency
- 02Choosing enjoyable work is only half the practice
- 03Any present activity can be made more enjoyable
- 04Small improvements compound like progressive training
How to run it
- 1
Measure the moment
Notice whether the activity is draining or returning energy and how much enjoyment is present.
Pro tip Treat enjoyment as diagnostic information rather than a reward after completion.
- 2
Ask for ten percent
Ask how the present activity could become 10% more enjoyable. Keep the increase small enough to discover rather than force.
Pro tip Use a recurring phone reminder to make the question concrete.
Watch out Demanding complete enjoyment recreates the same gripping effort the practice is meant to reduce.
- 3
Change your experience
Without changing the task, shift attention toward bodily sensation, connection, care, ease, or another enjoyable aspect already available.
Pro tip In conversation, deepen bodily attention and connection to the other person.
- 4
Change the design
Where possible, alter what you do or how you do it so the activity itself becomes more enjoyable and energising.
Watch out Do not optimise life so completely that you lose the ability to meet unavoidable discomfort.
- 5
Repeat progressively
Practise small increases regularly and let the skill build over time.
Pro tip Approach it like adding a little weight in training rather than attempting an instant transformation.
In the wild
During an experiment not to do anything he did not enjoy, Hudson reached a foul-smelling garbage can that needed emptying. The impasse taught him to investigate how to enjoy taking out the garbage rather than simply avoiding it.
→ He recognised enjoyment as a trainable state of mind as well as a property of the task.
Hudson asked how to enjoy the podcast conversation 10% more and immediately put attention into his body, which made him feel more deeply connected with Williamson.
→ The same conversation became more enjoyable without changing its subject or setting.
Common mistakes
Only choosing pleasant tasks
Selecting only enjoyable activities turns the method into avoidance and leaves a person fragile when discomfort is unavoidable.
Forcing enjoyment
Ordering yourself to enjoy an experience applies effort where curiosity and attention are needed.
Is it for you?
Best for
People who want better performance and energy while still handling unavoidable tasks.
Not ideal for
Situations requiring immediate crisis action where reflective adjustment would create delay.
From the transcript
“enjoyment is just like this amazing way to measure efficiency”
“there's two ways to enjoy yourself one is choose what you do that's enjoyable but the other one is learn how to enjoy whatever you're…”
“how do I enjoy this 10% more just a little bit more and then that just builds over time”
From the episode
The Art Of Mastering Your Emotions - Joe Hudson - #813
Joe Hudson