Whether it's knitting, learning Spanish, or skydiving, we all have hobbies that we love to do. However, making progress in these hobbies isn’t always easy.
You can hit a wall, lose interest, or just need a little motivation to keep going at times. While this can normally mean investing in a training course, doing hefty amounts of research, or trying things over and over again with no success, there is a neat trick that can help you.
ChatGPT is a great source of motivation and information when it comes to your hobbies. These are five prompts that I have tried myself to see success in a variety of different skills and interests.
30-day plan
Prompt: Write me a 30-day plan for [insert] hobby
This is a prompt that works especially well with deep research features. Switch to ChatGPT’s smarter reasoning models like o4 if you have access, and ChatGPT will use all of its thinking power.
Realistically, this will work best for a complete beginner to a hobby, setting you up with your first 30 days of learning. Whether that’s an instrument, language, sport, or something else, let ChatGPT know your skill level, and it will lay out a plan for the next 30 days.
I tried this with a 30-day running plan with the aim of reaching a 10K run. ChatGPT split this into a four week plan, not just with running but walking days, rest days and other forms of exercise included.
It also included a printable calendar, tips, and the ability to adjust the plan to work around which days I had free.
What is especially useful with this kind of prompt is the ability to adjust the plan. Once it has generated, you can make changes, like asking ChatGPT for something harder, a test in the middle, or for more detail guides for each day.
It can also help to ask ChatGPT to “use the internet” in your query. This can help in forcing a better response as it brings in sources and other pages to look through.
How to get over a plateau
Prompt: How can I get over [insert hobby and pain point] plateau
It happens to all of us. When you start a new hobby, you speed through the early stages with ease. When you start out, everything is easy and progress is quick. But then you get stuck.
Trying to get past this stage can be a real challenge, but ChatGPT can be really helpful tool here. It does require a bit of personal understanding of the point that you’ve reached.
For example, I tried this prompt to get past a climbing plateau, explaining the grade I had reached and couldn’t exceed. The same could be done for running times, chess levels, examples of songs on piano you’re struggling to get or a style of drawing you want to improve in.
Equally, you can try to explain your pain point in whatever way makes sense to you. ChatGPT’s understanding has improved drastically over the years, and it is surprisingly adept at reading between the lines.
When I asked it for help with climbing grades, it not only gave me 8 detailed suggestions on changes to make and what to focus on, but when prompted, it also gave me a weekly plan to improve.
Quiz me
Prompt: Quiz me on [insert topic]
This prompt works best with hobbies that are more knowledge-based. Languages, chess, and even just learning about topics like history or geography work especially well here.
Ask ChatGPT to quiz you on a topic, and you’ll get a list of multiple-choice questions. For example, I asked it to quiz me on chess openings, and it gave me a list of multiple-choice questions for this topic.
You could do the same with American states, Spanish phrases, or even general knowledge trivia.
Challenge me
Prompt: Set me a challenge in [insert hobby]
If you’re the type of person who always likes to have a challenge or goal to aim for, this is a great way to pick one out.
Ask ChatGPT to set you a challenge or goal in your hobby. I found the best way to do this is to give a clear indicator of your current skill level to ChatGPT.
For example, saying “Set me a goal in running as someone who currently runs a 5K in 30 minutes”. This shows the model where you are at currently and therefore knows how to set your baseline.
Help me towards a goal
Prompt: Help me towards my goal
This prompt is best used when you’re struggling to make progress. For example, if you’re not finding results in the gym or on the tennis court, use this prompt to get tips and tricks to move forward.
I’ve found that, no matter your current level, this is a great way to see the best results. This can save you the time and effort of trying a bunch of different techniques or routes without success.
More from Tom's Guide
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