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Lou Willoughby
Lou Willoughby

Posted on

9

The struggle of keeping momentum - Tips that helped me ✅

I still see myself as a newb in the field of Development.
Although my job title is Front End Developer and I have just over 2 years on the job experience, I still have so much to learn!

Learning new languages and technologies can be challenging, but it's important to stay motivated and maintain momentum.
I’m sorry to admit after a long day coding at work, bug fixing and staring at my computer screen I struggle to code at home as mentally I just want to go home, turn on Netflix and go to bed 🥱

But even still, I didn’t get to where I am now by napping so here are a few tips that helped me that may help you:

Set clear, realistic goals:
It’s easy to get caught in the cycle of wanting to learn anything and everything! But realistically you can’t do it all at once and if you try, you will eventually burn yourself out (I have personal experience of this 🥴)
So instead, identify what you want to achieve and set specific, measurable goals for yourself. This will give you something to work towards and help you stay focused.

Break it down:
Break your goals down into smaller, manageable tasks. This will make them more manageable and help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.
With my job, we set aside 4 hours every two weeks for on the job “Learning Time”. During this time you can switch off your notifications and spend some time learning something new.
It helps us constantly learning and doing things you don’t do in your everyday.

Practice regularly:
Consistency is key when it comes to learning something new. So set aside time each day or week to practice your coding skills. And remember to take breaks!

I honestly struggled with this at the start, I practiced too much and then not at all because I was mentally exhausted. So now I work on balancing work, practice and life in a healthy way.

Learn from others:
Join online coding communities or find a mentor who can help guide you. Learning from others can be incredibly valuable and can help you stay motivated.
I found this community amazing with learning new things and others like FrontEnd Mentor and Wes Bos Training courses each have their own communities where others are also learning just like you so you can discuss things together 🙂

Celebrate your successes:
Don't forget to celebrate your successes along the way! I’m big on cheerleading my own and others successes because coding is HARD, let’s be honest for a second and so celebrating the small wins as well as the big helps recognise how far you’ve come and look at what you can achieve ✨

Remember, learning to code takes time and effort, but with dedication and perseverance, you can achieve your goals 🎉

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