I started coding 8 years ago. I started with C, mostly because it's low level, popular and very stable, it felt like a good language to really learn not only how to code but also the logic that comes with it.
I really started out of curiosity, I got interested in computing a few month before that and wanted to see more of it. Also it seemed cool to be able to create things with lines of code... it's felt kinda magic at the time!
It was quite satisfying but I lacked a real project to really build something fun.
After that came Python and HTML/CSS, mostly by curiosity also. Then I started studying programming at school and I discovered Java and OOP, as well as PHP and JS.
I liked OOP but disliked Java so I learned C++ on my own. I hated PHP and JS and I swore I'd never do web dev... until discovered that web dev doesn't suck, only the way it was taught in school!
After an internship where I discovered Ruby on Rails I realized how awesome actual web dev can be and since then I focused on improving my Rails knowledge, a bit of PHP (just in case, but I still don't like it), and of course some JS.
Anyway, after 4 years at the university I decided to stop and find a job (I got fed up of feeling like 90% of my actual computing knowledge was self-taught) and now I work as a consultant (for my current mission I have a full-stack Rails dev role).
Of course I still try to learn new things when I can, mostly full-stack JS (with Node/Express and Vue.js) and lately, Flutter, all this through side projects.
Well, since this comment is turning into a biography here's an actual answer to your question:
How do you maintain your learning while not getting information overload?
From experience (but as always, YMMV) I'd say that the best way to learn something is to have a goal. Find a project idea, stick to it, pick a tech/language you'd like to learn (or learn more) and use it for it, knowledge comes from experience.
Be curious, learning a lot of things at the same time is not a good idea, but keeping an eye on things you could learn is a great way of discovering things, keep those things in mind and start learning them when the time is right (project idea, time, etc...).
Also don't try to know everything, there is no recipe for a good dev. A good dev is not the sum of the languages or techs he knows, a good dev is someone who can learn when it's needed. I also think knowing when not to learn is a quality, sometimes it's better to stick with something you know rather than trying something new that you don't master.
Last but not least, let time do it's work, experience comes with time, everyday you'll know a bit more than the previous day and less than the next day... on and on. Also, keep in mind that you will never know everything, do not see that as a bad thing but as a motivation: you'll always get better!
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I started coding 8 years ago. I started with C, mostly because it's low level, popular and very stable, it felt like a good language to really learn not only how to code but also the logic that comes with it.
I really started out of curiosity, I got interested in computing a few month before that and wanted to see more of it. Also it seemed cool to be able to create things with lines of code... it's felt kinda magic at the time!
It was quite satisfying but I lacked a real project to really build something fun.
After that came Python and HTML/CSS, mostly by curiosity also. Then I started studying programming at school and I discovered Java and OOP, as well as PHP and JS.
I liked OOP but disliked Java so I learned C++ on my own. I hated PHP and JS and I swore I'd never do web dev... until discovered that web dev doesn't suck, only the way it was taught in school!
After an internship where I discovered Ruby on Rails I realized how awesome actual web dev can be and since then I focused on improving my Rails knowledge, a bit of PHP (just in case, but I still don't like it), and of course some JS.
Anyway, after 4 years at the university I decided to stop and find a job (I got fed up of feeling like 90% of my actual computing knowledge was self-taught) and now I work as a consultant (for my current mission I have a full-stack Rails dev role).
Of course I still try to learn new things when I can, mostly full-stack JS (with Node/Express and Vue.js) and lately, Flutter, all this through side projects.
Well, since this comment is turning into a biography here's an actual answer to your question:
From experience (but as always, YMMV) I'd say that the best way to learn something is to have a goal. Find a project idea, stick to it, pick a tech/language you'd like to learn (or learn more) and use it for it, knowledge comes from experience.
Be curious, learning a lot of things at the same time is not a good idea, but keeping an eye on things you could learn is a great way of discovering things, keep those things in mind and start learning them when the time is right (project idea, time, etc...).
Also don't try to know everything, there is no recipe for a good dev. A good dev is not the sum of the languages or techs he knows, a good dev is someone who can learn when it's needed. I also think knowing when not to learn is a quality, sometimes it's better to stick with something you know rather than trying something new that you don't master.
Last but not least, let time do it's work, experience comes with time, everyday you'll know a bit more than the previous day and less than the next day... on and on. Also, keep in mind that you will never know everything, do not see that as a bad thing but as a motivation: you'll always get better!