When you need to get something done, having artificial stresses can be hugely helpful.

For example, if you’re out for a run and feel like you can’t run any faster, imagine you’re being chased by a bear. The key word here is imagine: don’t just pretend it’s happening; feel the chase with every single fibre of your being. Picture the biggest, baddest bear you can imagine that will tear you to shreds if it catches you. You’ll find yourself tapping into energy resources you never thought you had. The bear, of course, doesn’t exist. But by creating this artificial stress, your body is forced to perform at a higher standard.

For the last two months, I’ve been doing this screen time challenge with my partner. Every week, we have to average less than two hours per day on our iPhones. You can go over two hours some days, but you just make up for it on other days. It’s to help us spend less time on our devices, which we both agree is a good thing.

If you average over two hours a day for a week, you pay the other person $200.

Of course, this punishment doesn’t really exist. No contract was signed with ANZ and Apple that takes $200 out of our bank accounts if we go over two hours per day, per week. But we both believe the punishment exists and it makes us more conscious about our screen time use.

So what makes a successful artificial stress? I’ve come up with three conditions:

The Three Conditions for Artificial Stress

1. The stress is for something worthwhile;
2. The stress is something real and significant;
3. The consequence is great

Examples:

	Running	Phone addiction
What the stress is for	Running faster	Being less reliant on devices
What the stress is	A bear chasing you	Potential to lose money
What the consequence is	Death	$200

The biggest problem is usually condition #2: the stress is something real and significant. To get pumped up by a stress, you have to first believe it. If you want to wake up earlier and the stress is that your bed will explode if you don’t, that might not be a very good stress. You probably don’t really believe it.

Imagination and accountability are key here. You need a good enough imagination to believe that your stress is real, and will happen if you fail. But if that’s not enough, you also need accountability to remind you that the stress exists. For example, if I ever feel overly addicted to my phone one day, my partner will gently remind me of our challenge. Are you ready to pay me $200? That always snaps me out.

I’m not recommending this for everybody. Some people are happy living quiet, stress-free lives and that’s totally cool. But if there’s a bad practice that needs fixing, having some artificial stresses can be a helpful tool.