Why Most Coding Tutorials Waste Your Time (And What To Do Instead)

If you're stuck in tutorial hell, congratulations — you're not alone. You've followed dozens of coding tutorials, built five to-do apps, maybe even cloned Instagram twice, and yet… when it comes time to build your own thing?

You freeze. You panic. You Google “React beginner project” again.

Let’s talk about why this keeps happening, and what you can actually do to escape it.

---

🧪 The “Follow Along” Trap

Most tutorials are built like this:

• "Here’s the code."
• "Type it along with me."
• "Boom, it works!"
• “You’re now a developer.” 🎉

Except... you’re not.

You’re just parroting someone else’s solution without asking why it works. There’s no debugging. No problem-solving. No decision-making. No muscle memory. Just mimicking.

Watching tutorials is like watching cooking shows for six hours and then wondering why your pasta still tastes like glue.

---

🚨 The Illusion of Progress

Tutorials feel productive. You’re writing code, seeing results, hearing buzzwords like “state management” and “lifecycle methods.” It tricks your brain into thinking: “I’m learning!”

But ask yourself:

• Can you build the same thing without the video?
• Can you explain what each line is doing?
• Can you make even a small change to the logic?

If the answer is “no” — that’s not learning. That’s watching.

---

🧠 So What Does Work?

1. Build Without a Safety Net

Pick a small project idea and try building it from scratch, without Googling immediately. Struggle. Let it break. Let yourself feel dumb. That’s the part where your brain actually wires up.

Your goal isn't to avoid failure. Your goal is to make failure your tutor.

2. Use Tutorials Differently

Use them like references, not textbooks.

• Watch only the setup if you’re stuck.
• Skip ahead and just peek at the architecture.
• Use the code snippets as clues, not copy-pasta.

3. Rebuild Projects with a Twist

If you’ve built a to-do app tutorial, rebuild it:

• With localStorage
• With drag-and-drop
• In another framework or language

The structure is familiar, but now you’re making decisions. That’s where growth happens.

---

✍️ Example: The “Dirty Clone” Method

Instead of cloning big apps pixel-by-pixel, clone the concept:

• Instagram? Build a photo feed with fake uploads.
• Twitter? Build just the reply threads.
• Spotify? Build a song search + preview using an API.

Keep it ugly. Keep it messy. Keep it yours.

---

✅ TL;DR — How to Escape Tutorial Hell

• Don’t copy — understand.
• Use tutorials like a GPS, not a chauffeur.
• Build. Break. Fix. Repeat.
• Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Your first few self-built projects will suck. They’ll look bad, crash constantly, and be completely unoriginal. Good. That’s the price of learning.

Better a broken app you built yourself than a perfect one you copied without thinking.

---

🧵 Want More Like This?

I write about code, creativity, and building cool stuff without losing your mind.

Follow me on Twitter/@windspore for more unfiltered dev wisdom.