The phrase "a hard time achieving" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing difficulties or challenges someone faces in reaching a goal or completing a task.
Example: "She had a hard time achieving her fitness goals due to her busy schedule."
Alternatives: "struggling to achieve" or "finding it difficult to achieve".
I had a hard time achieving 30 m.p.g., even on the highway.
GLASS CEILING Why are women having such a hard time achieving parity on Wall Street?
For a variety of reasons, both personal and political, the Liberal Democrats would have a hard time achieving an official role in the next government.
The Italian government is on the verge of collapsing; the Greek government is under intense strain as it seeks further budget cuts; and the Portuguese and Spanish governments are having a hard time achieving even the looser fiscal targets set by their creditors, while political pressures mount.
Some programs have a hard time achieving high levels of viral suppression given problems with late initiation of ART, poor support systems, low adherence and high loss to follow-up.
Without these, you will have a hard time achieving any of the other needs.
It is true that I enjoy a wider readership in France, but I think all European authors have a harder time achieving recognition in the English-speaking world.
And because success is so closely tied to funding, particularly in academic health centers, says Leboy, all of these things mean that women are having a harder time achieving tenure than men.
South Carolina families pay the highest college tuition rates in the southeast and our families have a harder time achieving the American Dream than in almost any other state.
Long-term evidence is now available supporting the power of lifestyle interventions to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes in high-risk populations (56); however, patients already diagnosed with diabetes may have a harder time achieving and maintaining weight loss than patients without diabetes (57).
Home care providers are going to have a much harder time achieving any of those three things for the people they care for or themselves going forward.
