A couple of years ago, I hinted to a friend that I would give programming a try, after a career as a business and IT consultant. I remember my friend encouraged me but with a hint to keep it simple: Learn by doing, don’t make it complicated.
I wish I could have followed his advice from the start. That would have saved me 2 years.
In 2021, I decided to learn to code and paid for my first online course. It would take me 4 months to complete. Fast forward 6 months to the end of 2021, and I had only completed 2 out of 5 projects. I doubted myself and my abilities to learn and felt stupid.
I fell into the analysis paralysis state and lost the joy of learning to code.
But I never gave up.
I learned that I approached it the wrong way.
If you don't learn by doing, you will become distracted like I did.
Coding is a skill that requires continuous practice. To make it valuable, we need small wins and finished projects. If we are derailed from the daily practice and spend time over-reading and over-planning, we waste valuable time without having anything to show.
No projects on Github, nothing to showcase, and most importantly, nothing to be proud of.
We will go through 4 steps to move from being a distracted learner to becoming a focused builder in your learn-to-code journey.
Stating your success criteria will enhance your motivation to keep going. Without a clear vision you will end up chasing other people's metrics.
Keep it small, simple, and achievable:
Build a web page
Read and summarize a key chapter of a programming book
Complete coding challenges on Hackerrank
Without a clear, time-framed goal, your accountability will be hurt.
Split your project it into daily tasks
Morning check-in: what will I accomplish today?
Check out and ask yourself: what went well and what can I do differently tomorrow?
Ensure you have daily tasks identified that you can complete within a day.
If you are unaware of your weaknesses, you will never progress.
Identify the knowledge gaps and where you need to spend more focus
Write them down in your preferred note-taking system
Identify actions for how to fill them
If you don't approach your next day with a plan, you will react to others' plans and agendas.
Do the work required to fill the knowledge gaps
Note down the learnings/summaries of those actions
Go back and apply the learnings to your project
Don't worry about what you don't know, and stop chasing fancy certificates and start building real projects.
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