The structure you're asking about contains a FOR ... TO ... clause, like this basic structure:
IT IS/WAS (not) [easy, hard, difficult, pleasant, exciting, ...]
FOR subject TO verb.
(Of course these are the subject and verb of the FOR ... TO ... clause -- not the subject and verb of the sentence.)
1. Basic structure:
It is easy for me to get up early.
It was unpleasant for Jane to lose her keys.
It's hard for Helen to remember all the instructions.
Substituting a gerund for the infinitive in this structure is not possible.
*It is easy for Helen remembering all the instructions.
2. You can leave out the subject by dropping the FOR part of the
FOR ... TO ... clause. This makes the subject something like
(for) anybody.
It's easy to understand the rule.
It's amusing to listen to the comedy hour on the radio.
It's frightening to be in an earthquake.
Substituting a gerund for the infinitive here is possible, but I think the infinitive is more often used.
It's hard finding a parking place at this hour.
It's fun watching football games.
It's not pleasant being the last in line.
3. You can move the FOR...TO... clause to the beginning, but it's
less natural and is not used often.
For John to play football is exciting.
For him to make a web page is difficult.
For Sally to be late was embarrassing.
Substituting a gerund here can make for an awkward sentence because it
suggests a different meaning from the same sentence with the infinitive.
a. For John playing football is exciting says that John finds playing football exciting (
no matter who plays football). To make this meaning clear, a comma can be added (
For John, playing football is exciting), but it's more common to leave the FOR phrase at the end (
Playing football is exciting for John.) See 4, below.
b. For John to play football is exciting says that John's participation in football playing is exciting, i.e. the excitement occurs when
John plays football, and it occurs in general -- for everybody.
See Footnote at the end of this post.
4: You can move just the TO ... part of the FOR ... TO ... clause
to the beginning. Again, the infinitive at the beginning is not
particularly natural, so this structure is not often used.
To play chess is boring for Susan.
To arrive early is not easy for me.
To give the speech was not easy for Donald.
Substituting a gerund for the infinitive is more natural here.
Playing chess is boring for Susan.
Arriving early is not easy for us.
Giving speeches is unpleasant for the students.
5. You can drop the FOR phrase and move the TO phrase to the
beginning. Again, this is not the most natural structure.
To run barefoot in the grass is pleasant.
To pay bills on time is important.
To climb Everest is not easy.
Again, substituting a gerund is more natural.
Running barefoot in the grass is pleasant.
Paying bills on time is important.
Climbing Everest is not easy.
CJ
Footnote: This gets even more complicated when you realize that
there are two possible FOR phrases: The FOR ... that shows the
subject of the FOR ... TO ... clause and the simple prepositional
phrase with FOR that shows the person or persons affected:
It was exciting
for Peter
for his grandfather
to talk about the old times.
For Peter, it was exciting
for his grandfather
to talk about the old times.
For his grandfather
to talk about the old times was exciting
for Peter.
(The FOR that introduces the subject of the FOR ... TO ... clause is also called "complementizing
for".)