Getting My S**t Together
Hey there DEV following, it's been a while...which I said in my last article I wrote in October 2019. A lot has went on since then in my personal life, although my learning has sort of stalled. This is very much the opposite of what I want and need to be doing which leads me into the next topic of this post...
2020 Plans
I could of course make extravagant plans and resolutions, but instead, I want to work on developing habits that will help me work toward my goals, both personally and professionally.
A fantastic book that I am re-reading to help me on this journey is "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. If you've not read it yet I highly encourage you all to do so.
New Habits
- Wake up by 6:30am during the work week (Monday - Friday)
- Meditate daily for at least 10 minutes
- Read 2x per week for at least 1-hour per session
- Code 5x per week for at least 1-hour per session
- Go to gym 2x per week
- Go on 3 walks per week for at least 15 minutes each
These are the most important habits to me that I build, and you'll notice that they are all rooted in personal development.
New Coding Mentality
This is something I'd like to expand on in a future post, however, I am looking at web design and project development in a different light lately. Long story short, I am trying to keep things simpler, not get caught up in the fine details as I'm building something new, and force myself to try new things.
Like I said, I'll expand on this in a future post, but so far it seems to be working pretty well and I am enjoying the lack of stress I was putting on myself.
The Curse of Being Too Curious
I am extremely curious with wanting to know what is the best way to do something. This has been crippling me occasionally while coding - let me explain.
I often do too much research before starting something new. There is so much information readily available online these days that it's easy to rabbit-hole yourself into reading and reading and watching and watching before taking the first step...in my case that's simply writing code!
It's an annoying habit of mine, one I'd like to break. I would imagine I'm not alone in this, so I was wondering if any of you could suggest how to overcome or work through this paralyzation?
Top comments (6)
Hi Ryan! I can totally relate to getting sucked down the rabbit hole and letting it prevent me from actually coding! To make things easier on myself, I have limited myself to a few resources to focus on at a time that cater to a project-based learning style. Participating in the #100daysofcode challenge is also helping to keep me accountable.
Oh, and reading 'Atomic Habits' last year definitely changed my goal-setting process. Great read!
All the best to you this year!
Hey Maeling!
1 - Thanks for reading!
Limiting myself to fewer resources is defiantly a good idea. As for #100DaysOfCode it's something I started last year and failed on - but I'm happy to have another crack at it!
I'm so glad you enjoyed Atomic Habits! For me, I was (and still partially am) a terribly lazy person for most of my life and it's something I find myself fighting more than I'd like. Atomic Habits is a book that I'm sure I'll be reading a 3rd and 4th time in the future :)
All the best to you as well! I hope you'll drop in again
This is me 100%...
One example is I started learning Vue was curious about the vue-cli so learnt a bit about that then I wanted to know when was going on under the hood so I went off a tangent for a few days learning all about webpack... I can wholeheartedly relate.
Agree about Xdaysofcode challenges never really attempted them as I know I would likely struggle to stick to them it's something I am considering maybe one day.
Ohhh I totally understand going off on a tangent, it's the worst! I'm not at place where I can afford to do that but I can't help my curiosity sometimes.
I've started and stopped Xdaysofcode twice now. I know that you're not actually expected to do it EVERY day, however, I view it as a failure if I have more than 2 days in a row without coding. It's something I WANT to succeed in doing.
I wish you the best of luck staying focused! I feel like I'm forever trying to learn JS and React because I keep getting distracted or going off on a tangent.
Welcome back, and good luck!
Thank you!!