Three Tips for Sticking With Coding in Busy Times!

This week has been tough in terms of coding.  I had a lot of stuff going on at work and I was only able to do about half of what I normally do in terms of coding.  I have also passed through the early stages of coding and am now into some of the tougher stuff.  Early on, coding seems very easy!  I can make it print a number, make it branch off, etc etc.  However, as you begin to get deeper in, things get rough.  This is where I am at.  In the spirit of determination I offer you the best I have to keep on coding, even if it seems the going is getting tough.

(1) Focus on learning for its own sake, remember what drew you to it!  This probably needs to be more than a job.  If you are only learning because you want a job or an end goal, coding (or anything!) is very tough.  In order for you to really get anywhere you have to do it because you like it.  If there is no joy in simply sitting down to code, maybe you should ask yourself why you are so determined to do it.  Remember, just as you are auditioning to code, coding is auditioning for you.  Is it what you want or what you think you should want?  If you have no intrinsic motivation to learn, you will eventually quit.

(2) Have a few resources at your disposal.  I always like to have a few different types of resources I can work on.  I like to have one serious resource which requires my full attention as my top goal.  However, I have a good deal of free time when I can't focus like this.  That's when having some easier and quicker resources like Code Academy or TreeHouse can be handy.  You can review old lessons, poke into a new language, in small chunks.  This way you are not always waiting for the perfect four hour block to study (this will rarely/never come), you can use all of your time.  Only have 30 minutes?  You would be surprised what can happen on TreeHouse in 30 minutes!

(3) Force yourself to do something every day, even if it is just reading an article or working through one lesson.  Sometimes life gets busy and you miss a day.  However, for me when I miss one it can turn into two, three, and four.  When I miss many days in a row, I start to doubt myself and ask if I am serious about it or now.  This is why I try to stay as consistent as I can.  Posting daily on a blog, Twitter, and other social media can help you to stay in it even if you are not getting the time you want in.  Even though it's silly, I have a 40 day streak on Code Academy.  I do it every morning not because it teaches me much, but because it focuses me and keeps me engaged with my goal.  Everything stops being new after a while, methods of accountability are so important for when the fun slows down.

Code Report (from a tough week!)


Resources in Progress:
Total hours into Programming: 108 (4 since last time )
Days into Programming/Hours per day: 2.5 Hours Per Day (Goal:3.0)

Progress on Gaddis' Starting out with Python: Done With Chapter 1, Appendix A,B

Progress on Shaw's Learning Ruby the Hard Way: Finished Exercise 1-13

My Text game: 3 hours, 118 lines

TreeHouse (3164 Points, 37 Badges)

Code Academy Points: (748 points, 77 badges)

Progress on Hartl's Tutorial Ready to start Chapter 3! 

Resources Finished:
Josh Kemp's No Degree, No Problem 8/14/2015

Chris Pine's Learn to Program 8/9/2015

TreeHouse Make a Website Track 8/17/2015

TreeHouse Ruby Basics 8/20/2015
TreeHouse JavaScript Basics 8/22/2015
TreeHouse Console Foundations 8/24/2015 
TreeHouse Git Basics 8/25/2015
TreeHouse Installing a Ruby Environment 8/26/2015
TreeHouse Making a ToDo Rails App 8/31/15
TreeHouse Ruby Logical Operators 9/4/2015

Code Academy Make a Website Course 7/29/2015

Code Academy Ruby Course 8/5/2015

Code Academy HTML and CSS Course 8/24/2015