I’ve seen it over…. and over again on the freeCodeCamp forum and It happens to all of us eventually. We cram all of this information into our brains because we want to learn to code so stinkin bad. Well, when it comes to learning anything, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it.
First of all, you need to ask yourself why you are learning to code. For many of us it is to find a job or give us something to do. Others are like me and really want to change the world some day. Just think about it, in todays world you can learn so many things and you can do anything with what you learn. There are hundreds of other programmers that are very good at what they do and have built amazing tools. You know what ? They all started from scratch just like you.
The Truth Hurts
I know, most of us hate to admit the truth because it can hurt. But, the truth is sometimes needed and if you are programmer material, you are able to think critically about feedback from others. What makes it really hard is when you begin to hold yourself back by thinking unnecessary thoughts:
“you can’t do this, just give up”, “just pay someone else to run your mail server”, “coding just isn’t your thing, it’s been two days and you still can’t get it”.
These thoughts surfacing with me for a reason and I finally found out why.
Truth is, you can’t give up on yourself because you will endure more complex obstacles in your career other than learning how to code.
Learning to code is just the beginning — you will be faced with more complex hurdles throughout your career. Don't take on to much work because that can destroy a learning experience. I have been there, I know what it’s like. I have spent 50 hours a week for two weeks trying to setup and run my own mail server, trying to learn and run my own DNS servers, all while trying to get a CISCO certification and finish up freeCodeCamp challenges. I didn't give up and I'm glad I didn't because there is no better learning experience than getting your hands dirty and figuring it out for yourself.
Have Some Control
A lot of times I took on too much and it caused me to have a bad learning experience. Yes, I did learn a lot but I was not learning as efficiently as I could be and I finally realized I was suffering from information overload.
Information overload is when our ability to process information has passed its limit, and further attempts to process information or make accurate decisions from the surplus of information leads to information overload.
Ruff argues that information overload interferes with our ability to learn and engage in creative problem-solving. For instance, venture capitalists with too much information cannot make accurate adjustments to their evaluation process, and because of this their learning is impeded. — Joseph Ruff (LILA)
There’s even a new name for it, Information Fatigue Syndrome (IFS). Its symptoms include:
Poor concentration due to the overloading of short-term memory
Polyphasic behavior or multi-tasking often resulting in diminished rather than increased productivity
Hurry sickness, which is the belief that one must constantly rush to keep pace with time
Pervasive hostility resulting in a chronic state of irritability near anger or even rage
Habituation or over stimulation which causes the brain to shut down and enter a trance-like state
Traditional stress including lowered immune response, endocrine imbalance, depression and the experience of “burn out”.
It’s time to overcome these types of scenarios whether you are learning something for the first time or are half way into an awesome project.
Schedule for time management
Once you have set goals to achieve something, you will need to begin properly managing your time in order to accomplish those goals and prevent information overload. No matter who you are or what kind of business you are in. You only have a certain amount of time to get something done.
The time that you choose to schedule depends on the task and the deadline. The best way to stay on task is with a calendar ( I use an Excel spreadsheet). I know a lot of “Learn to Code” programs have detailed information on how long a challenge or specific course takes to finish. This is information you can use at your advantage to manage your time to efficiently work through the course. For example, freeCodeCamp is a year long course, if you go to their website and click on the map it shows you all the courses and how many hours it takes to complete. Go ahead and create a calendar for a half of a year or a whole year. That way you will stay on task and not over do it. I recommend about 2 to 3 hours a day when learning to code. If you plan out your calendar like that for the entire year, you will stay on task and receive a quality learning experience.
Just Relax and Make Mistakes
When all else fails, just relax. Coding takes a while to learn and it’s like anything else — you have to practice to be good at it. A programmer who I used to work with would always send me challenges and he would say, “have fun, break something, and fix it.” You are going to make mistakes and frankly, in this line of work, that is one of the best ways to learn. If things get bad, reach out and talk to other programmers on the forum and I'm sure you will find someone else who is going through the same thing you are! I found a lot of support by reaching out when I lost motivation and it really helped me to keep on keepin on.