How to Start & Stay Consistent When Learning to Code

Have you taken on the challenge of becoming a self-taught software engineer? It can be difficult staying consistent when learning to code. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the resources that are out there. There are so many YouTube channels you can follow — many of them telling you which path to take.

You can search ‘learning to code for beginners’ on YouTube and you get results like:

$45k/yr to $125k+/yr by teaching myself to code!
How I learned to code and got a job at (insert FAANG company here)!

You find all of these clickbait-y titles, general explanations and tips on how they went about their journey, and yet you still don’t know where to start because maybe their advice doesn’t apply to you. I often felt that way — sometimes I still do. As a person of color with an unconventional journey into tech, I rarely felt like the advice I found really applied to my situation. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to learn that instead of changing my plans and values to adjust for the advice I was receiving, I should continue focusing on what is most important to me, what I want my journey to look like, and keep taking small steps to get there.

What’s the smallest step you can take?

You can learn from other peoples’ journeys, but it’s your journey with your unique circumstances that matters most. Decide what type of developer you want to be and what you want your new life to look like. Dedicate some time to figuring out what you want your end goal to be — something that works for YOU and not what’s best for someone else. And then write down ONE SMALL daily change that will help you get there. What’s the one habit you can start building today that your lifestyle allows you to keep up with?

How to stay consistent

Sometimes it can be difficult staying consistent when working on side projects to help improve your developer skills. Taking on a new project to build up a portfolio can feel daunting. You might get stuck and feel discouraged. I would sometimes feel that way and end up with only partially completed projects.

Here are some tips that have helped me be more consistent as an iOS developer. If your goal is to complete a project, you don’t have to code everyday — project planning and design can count as well.

• Determine a long-term goal with many small goals inside of that
• Keep track of your coding successes — no matter how small
• Make it a daily habit
• Set a time based cue for when to start
• Reward yourself for completing the day/week
• Plan your tasks the night before
• Enlist an accountability partner to code with you if possible or someone you will celebrate your mini milestones

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter to share your coding journey goals and the small steps you’re taking to get there!

Originally published at https://risingdevhabits.com on April 7, 2021.