Fellow developers,

How did you keep yourselves motivated while learning coding.

The last few months have been tough for me since I started learning coding, lack of money, lack of data, frustrations sometimes you feel like giving up.

People, especially your host having the impression that that you're a lazy person that stays indoors and don't want to go out there and hustle.

On a second note, I have tried many hustles and I usually lost interest after a very short time.

However, coding is something that has caught my attention, maybe because it involves brain work.

So I ask, how did you guys keep yourselves motivated when you were learning programming.

PS: I'm available if you have some tasks for me. I know HTML CSS currently learning JavaScript.

Thanks.

c.c
stanliwise
rgede
karleb
airsaylongcome
tensazangetsu20
qturu
Olalekank
reactjs et al.

"Focus on the long term goal, rather than the short term"..... Chris Sean

Personally, I took mine as a challenge since I have no interest in uni.
Dedicating 1yr against 4yrs... I just pray we get there

I am still learning. I presently work as an engineer in a manufacturing firm. I earn what some persons will call a good salary in a location like Ibadan. So I may say I am not usually broke. What motivates me in programming is that it is difficult to learn. Not every dick and Harry can pick it up and be able to cope consistently. Secondly, I forsee that I can earn far better than I currently earn as a mechanical engineer. I also forsee that my services would be needed not only locally but also internationally. It is usually tough though, combining my work and learning programming, jack as if I am an undergraduate again, burning mid night candles. The motivation again is that the hustle will pay las las.
I have bought more than 7 materials from Udemy. I started first during COVID with python. Learnt machine learning and AI, postgre SQL and tableau but I didn't see the synchronization between everything I learnt plus I expended large amount of data building models. I had to have a rethink around November last year, so I switched to web development. I learnt html, CSS and JavaScript. Now I am mastering the MERN stack. I have some of my portfolios on github but I don't think I am job ready yet. I really need to master the job well cos I need a job that will pay me more than I currently earn before I can leave my present job. I presently earn btw 150-200k

TheTraveler:
Fellow developers,

How did you keep yourselves motivated while learning coding.

The last few months have been tough for me since I started learning coding, lack of money, lack of data, frustrations sometimes you feel like giving up.

People, especially your host having the impression that that you're a lazy person that stays indoors and don't want to go out there and hustle.

On a second note, I have tried many hustles and I usually lost interest after a very short time.

However, coding is something that has caught my attention, maybe because it involves brain work.

So I ask, how did you guys keep yourselves motivated when you were learning programming.

PS: I'm available if you have some tasks for me. I know HTML CSS currently learning JavaScript.

Thanks.

c.c
stanliwise
rgede
karleb
airsaylongcome
tensazangetsu20
qturu
Olalekank
reactjs et al.

I have quite some things to say but not to sound boring do this to stay productive.
productivity will bring the motivation to you first and then to your family.

first and first only one stack,
only what!!! only one stack
if you're frontend coder, stay frontend for now and if you're a backend coder stay backend for now.
only one CMS, only one framework let's say for the next six month.

frontend - html, css and js
backend - php or python or node or asp
cms - any one either wordpress or what ever you like.

Next - study only for kind of concept at a time, if when learning a concept you see another one that looks long, write it down until is necessary.

Third - study slowly and efficiently, by efficently I mean do alot of research until you understand what the concept is about and not just because you grazed through few lines.
Work on only one project at a time and move to another until you have done your best on one or spend quality time exploring till it start getting above your level.

Part 2
======
- Get a laptop and a good laptop
- Get a quality code editor - Visual studio is always the best
- Develop a routine and habit of time to study and keep at it until it starts becoming easy. it is very hard at first until you normalize it for like 2 weeks, power is number one problem. so develop a habit of twice a day or thrice a day so you can always switch.
- prepare and rest before your time to learn.
-find your type of environment


part 3
=====
- Avoid rush rush and five minutes videos. spend quality time to actually read things properly or slowly. find longer videos that explains topic properly and watch videos that explain how things work rather than how to make fancy things. a quality 30 mins video could take about 2 weeks to understands together with other research, do it, it would not always be like that later on

-Explore other people works and codes a little above your level as soon as you begin to gain more knowledge, it will help you understand they where not performing magic and you're growing.

- build and replicate small project but this time in your way to prove your pace in real life.

part 4
======
- find a team or someone who is an experience coder to work with (please forget about teacher except you want to pay him/her).
- work only on your stack with the team, and let the team cover the rest, the work can be free or paid but the benefit is that you learn
on the goal and give value with your own skill.
- Learn fromt the team.

part 5
====
- study other people codes and material
- learn from advance videos and materials
- learn from open source codebase and knowledge (wider than the sea)
- pay for quality courses and tutorial ( more than a life time)

My motivation was poverty. Before becoming a programmer, I used to be a mechanic and it was a miracle for me to even see 50k in a whole month. I was always so broke. Wearing tattered clothes. All my trousers were torn in the ass and people would see my balls when walking. I started thinking of getting a job when nothing was working and almost all the jobs online with good pay were programming jobs thats how I took the plounge. Used my last card to buy a HP folio and was studying ten hours everyday atleast for six months.

What actually motivated and keep me going was the challenging part of programming. Programming will make you think deep and reason about life. Putting your ideas to life with codes imagine putting all those codes together to produce something that millions of people will use is something great enough to boost your morale.
Personally, I want to stick with only one language and fully understand it, build something with it, know it data structures and algorithms. I don't buy the idea of want to learn all the programming languages like some people here on Nairaland. They want to know everything from Django, Go, Scala, JavaScript, Objective C, Python, Java, Flutter, React Native C++ C#. This is too much for a person instead of wasting so much time on want to knowing all these languages why can't want to be programmer just stay with one language and master it. Each of those languages has their own specific usage it is for the want to be programmer to choose the one that suit his/her niche and can find available resources or documentation online to read also practice practice practice and practice.
To be a good programmer you need to work hard. Infact, sometimes you will denying yourself of something. Nothing good comes easy. Sometimes I woke up in the midnight to write some codes read Google documentation on Jetpack compose and some other necessarily Android framework. What about during the day I write codes everyday on my Laptop. Sometimes when I got tired or bored I play games or watch movies or went out to play with friends then later switch on to IntelliJ idea.
I have a good HP laptop of 16GIG of RAM with 4GIG of Nvidia graphics card.
Android Studio, IntelliJ idea and Adobe XD for UI/UX Mobile App designer all installed on my machine
I have my superb very sharp mouse.
I have a good furniture table and chair to feel relaxed while writing codes.
Light in my area is 80% steady.
My problem sometimes is money to buy data. MTN won finish me patapata!! If I struggle to subscribe 3GIG is like 300MB.
My people, programming is not that difficult if you are not a lazy type or someone that easily give up on something that they don't quickly seem to understand. If you're are ready to denying yourself of something you love doing then you will truly understand the programming language you want to use and be able to do something with it.
Happy coding!! to all my fellow determine and serious programmers on Nairaland either upcoming, junior or senior developers.

Hmm. Tasty. Although I find that I lose interest in a udemy course after sometime. I prefer books. Also, I'm finding out that Coursera is great.

DDayve:
I am still learning. I presently work as an engineer in a manufacturing firm. I earn what some persons will call a good salary in a location like Ibadan. So I may say I am not usually broke. What motivates me in programming is that it is difficult to learn. Not every dick and Harry can pick it up and be able to cope consistently. Secondly, I forsee that I can earn far better than I currently earn as a mechanical engineer. I also forsee that my services would be needed not only locally but also internationally. It is usually tough though, combining my work and learning programming, jack as if I am an undergraduate again, burning mid night candles. The motivation again is that the hustle will pay las las.
I have bought more than 7 materials from Udemy. I started first during COVID with python. Learnt machine learning and AI, postgre SQL and tableau but I didn't see the synchronization between everything I learnt plus I expended large amount of data building models. I had to have a rethink around November last year, so I switched to web development. I learnt html, CSS and JavaScript. Now I am mastering the MERN stack. I have some of my portfolios on github but I don't think I am job ready yet. I really need to master the job well cos I need a job that will pay me more than I currently earn before I can leave my present job. I presently earn btw 150-200k

gheekhone:

Hmm. Tasty. Although I find that I lose interest in a udemy course after sometime. I prefer books. Also, I'm finding out that Coursera is great.

Yeah, from my experience so far, I don't think Udemy is good for a beginner. U seem to learn pertinent skills bit by bit and separately. You hardly find a beginner to advance course that you can do to find your first job. The disadvantage of learning with Udemy is that after learning all the bits, u may not be able to synchronize everything thereby leaving your relevance in the job market at a low bar. That is what affected me when I learnt data science with python.
For the web development, I would count myself lucky to find Andrei Neagoie. With two of his courses, you can be job ready as a mern stack developer. Although if it had occurred to me, I would have chose Coursera over Udemy. The advantage with Udemy is that it is cheaper when u buy at the right time

tensazangetsu20:
My motivation was poverty. Before becoming a programmer, I used to be a mechanic and it was a miracle for me to even see 50k in a whole month. I was always so broke. Wearing tattered clothes. All my trousers were torn in the ass and people would see my balls when walking. I started thinking of getting a job when nothing was working and almost all the jobs online with good pay were programming jobs thats how I took the plounge. Used my last card to buy a HP folio and was studying ten hours everyday atleast for six months.

I thought your mom is a doctor..

EarlHall:

I thought your mom is a doctor..

Yeah she is but she earns a pittance. My dad is a lawyer too also earns a pittance. Both of my parents are well educated but very poor. I also have an engineering degree which was absolutely useless.

Bro if you've gone through a some of my posts, you would've probably come across where i've mentioned that i've got no degree. Dropped out of uni twice. In a below middle-class nigerian home, this is tantamount to ostracization from your folks because they believe nothing good can come out of your life and you'll end up being a worthless piece of sh!t. So i can say i fairly understand what you're going through. I'm gonna tell you 2 things. which is based on exactly how i made it to where i am today.

First is your mindset, When i started learning, i understood that i had to be really good at this thing because my life literally depended on it. what else am i gonna do? Imagine what that mindset did for me. i was literally doing this stuff every day of the week at any little chance i could get. There was no option for me to quit or say that i'm not motivated or any of those excuses. its either i was good at it or i'm done for. I had no backup plan.

2, Another thing that really helped me (this is like the most important) was the support of my mother. She stood by me all through the whole school ish and just kept supporting any decision that i made. she bought me my first laptop. she was a petty trader at the time but i had no idea what she saw in me that made her support my 'craziness' as my other siblings would put it. You need a support system

Forget about programming languages or frameworks for now. You need to get your head straight and understand how your circumstances should be your fuel.

For me and my mom, it all paid off in the end. God knows there's nothing that woman will ask me for in this life that i won't get for her. As long as money can buy it.

ReactJs:
Bro if you've gone through a some of my posts, you would've probably come across where i've mentioned that i've got no degree. Dropped out of uni twice. In a below middle-class nigerian home, this is tantamount to ostracization from your folks because they believe nothing good can come out of your life and you'll end up being a worthless piece of sh!t. So i can say i fairly understand what you're going through. I'm gonna tell you 2 things. which is based on exactly how i made it to where i am today.

First is your mindset, When i started learning, i understood that i had to be really good at this thing because my life literally depended on it. what else am i gonna do? Imagine what that mindset did for me. i was literally doing this stuff every day of the week at any little chance i could get. There was no option for me to quit or say that i'm not motivated or any of those excuses. its either i was good at it or i'm done for. I had no backup plan.

2, Another thing that really helped me (this is like the most important) was the support of my mother. She stood by me all through the whole school ish and just kept supporting any decision that i made. she bought me my first laptop. she was a petty trader at the time but i had no idea what she saw in me that made her support my 'craziness' as my other siblings would put it. You need a support system

Forget about programming languages or frameworks for now. You need to get your head straight and understand how your circumstances should be your fuel.

For me and my mom, it all paid off in the end. God knows there's nothing that woman will ask me for in this life that i won't get for her. As long as money can buy it.

Damn bros you are just like me. My mom gets all my money now. No questions asked. She even keeps a large potion of my earnings. No problems for me. As for my dad, shishi he wont see from my hand

Sheriman:
What actually motivated and keep me going was the challenging part of programming. Programming will make you think deep and reason about life. Putting your ideas to life with codes imagine putting all those codes together to produce something that millions of people will use is something great enough to boost your morale.
For me personally, I want to stick with only one language and fully understand it build something with it know it data structures and algorithm. I don't buy the idea of want to learn all the programming languages like some people here on Nairaland. They want to know Django, Go, Scala, JavaScript, Java, Flutter, React Native C++ C#. This is too much for a person instead of wasting so much time on want to knowing all these language why can't want to be progeammer just stay with one language and master it. Each of those languages has their own specific usage it is for the want to be programmer to choose the one that suit it taste and can find available resources or documentation online to read also practice practice practice and practice.
To be a good programmer you need to work hard infact sometimes you will denying yourself of something. Nothing good comes easy. Sometimes I woke up in the midnight to write some codes read Google documentation on Jetpack compose and some other necessarily Android framework. What about during the day I write codes everyday on my Laptop. Sometimes when I got tired or bored I play games or watch movies or went out to play with friends then later switch on to IntelliJ idea.
I have a good HP laptop of 16GIG of RAM with 4GIG of Nvidia graphics card.
Android Studio, IntelliJ idea and Adobe XD for UI/UX Mobile App designer all installed on my machine
My superb very sharp mouse
I have a good furniture table and chair to feel relaxed while writing codes.
My problem sometimes is money to buy data.
Programming is not that difficult if you are not a lazy type or someone that easily give up on something that they don't quickly seem to understand. If you're are ready to denying yourself of something you love doing then you will truly understand programming you want to use and be able to do something with it.
Happy coding!! to all my fellow determine and serious programmers on Nairaland either upcoming, junior or senior developers.

How much did you get the system?

The5DME:
How much did you get the system?

300K from Adarabi

Good on you for finding a suited to you on udemy especially for a complete stack. Coursera is kinda pricey for the average Nigerian but thank God for their financial aid package. That helps a lot.

DDayve:


Yeah, from my experience so far, I don't Udemy is good for a beginner. U seem to learn pertinent skills bit by bit and separately. You hardly find a beginner to advance course that you can do to find your first job. The disadvantage of learning with Udemy is that after learning all the bits, u may not be able to synchronize everything thereby leaving your relevance in the job market at a low bar. That is what affected me when I learnt data science with python.
For the web development, I would count myself lucky to find Andrei Neagoie. With two of his courses, you can be job ready as a mern stack developer. Although if it had occurred to me, I would have chose Coursera over Udemy. The advantage with Udemy is that it is cheaper when u buy at the right time

kennethfranc:
"Focus on the long term goal, rather than the short term"..... Chris Sean

Personally, I took mine as a challenge since I have no interest in uni.
Dedicating 1yr against 4yrs... I just pray we get there

Yeah, long term > short term.

What stack are you learning?

DDayve:
I am still learning. I presently work as an engineer in a manufacturing firm. I earn what some persons will call a good salary in a location like Ibadan. So I may say I am not usually broke. What motivates me in programming is that it is difficult to learn. Not every dick and Harry can pick it up and be able to cope consistently. Secondly, I forsee that I can earn far better than I currently earn as a mechanical engineer. I also forsee that my services would be needed not only locally but also internationally. It is usually tough though, combining my work and learning programming, jack as if I am an undergraduate again, burning mid night candles. The motivation again is that the hustle will pay las las.
I have bought more than 7 materials from Udemy. I started first during COVID with python. Learnt machine learning and AI, postgre SQL and tableau but I didn't see the synchronization between everything I learnt plus I expended large amount of data building models. I had to have a rethink around November last year, so I switched to web development. I learnt html, CSS and JavaScript. Now I am mastering the MERN stack. I have some of my portfolios on github but I don't think I am job ready yet. I really need to master the job well cos I need a job that will pay me more than I currently earn before I can leave my present job. I presently earn btw 150-200k

Nice, keep it up king.

stanliwise:

I have quite some things to say but not to sound boring do this to stay productive.
productivity will bring the motivation to you first and then to your family.

first and first only one stack,
only what!!! only one stack
if you're frontend coder, stay frontend for now and if you're a backend coder stay backend for now.
only one CMS, only one framework let's say for the next six month.

frontend - html, css and js
backend - php or python or node or asp
cms - any one either wordpress or what ever you like.

Next - study only for kind of concept at a time, if when learning a concept you see another one that looks long, write it down until is necessary.

Third - study slowly and efficiently, by efficently I mean do alot of research until you understand what the concept is about and not just because you grazed through few lines.
Work on only one project at a time and move to another until you have done your best on one or spend quality time exploring till it start getting above your level.

Part 2
======
- Get a laptop and a good laptop
- Get a quality code editor - Visual studio is always the best
- Develop a routine and habit of time to study and keep at it until it starts becoming easy. it is very hard at first until you normalize it for like 2 weeks, power is number one problem. so develop a habit of twice a day or thrice a day so you can always switch.
- prepare and rest before your time to learn.
-find your type of environment


part 3
=====
- Avoid rush rush and five minutes videos. spend quality time to actually read things properly or slowly. find longer videos that explains topic properly and watch videos that explain how things work rather than how to make fancy things. a quality 30 mins video could take about 2 weeks to understands together with other research, do it, it would not always be like that later on

-Explore other people works and codes a little above your level as soon as you begin to gain more knowledge, it will help you understand they where not performing magic and you're growing.

- build and replicate small project but this time in your way to prove your pace in real life.

part 4
======
- find a team or someone who is an experience coder to work with (please forget about teacher except you want to pay him/her).
- work only on your stack with the team, and let the team cover the rest, the work can be free or paid but the benefit is that you learn
on the goal and give value with your own skill.
- Learn fromt the team.

part 5
====
- study other people codes and material
- learn from advance videos and materials
- learn from open source codebase and knowledge (wider than the sea)
- pay for quality courses and tutorial ( more than a life time)

You really hit it hard, thanks for your input.
I appreciate.

tensazangetsu20:
My motivation was poverty. Before becoming a programmer, I used to be a mechanic and it was a miracle for me to even see 50k in a whole month. I was always so broke. Wearing tattered clothes. All my trousers were torn in the ass and people would see my balls when walking. I started thinking of getting a job when nothing was working and almost all the jobs online with good pay were programming jobs thats how I took the plounge. Used my last card to buy a HP folio and was studying ten hours everyday atleast for six months.

Always concise and straight to the point. Thanks bro.

ReactJs:
Bro if you've gone through a some of my posts, you would've probably come across where i've mentioned that i've got no degree. Dropped out of uni twice. In a below middle-class nigerian home, this is tantamount to ostracization from your folks because they believe nothing good can come out of your life and you'll end up being a worthless piece of sh!t. So i can say i fairly understand what you're going through. I'm gonna tell you 2 things. which is based on exactly how i made it to where i am today.

First is your mindset, When i started learning, i understood that i had to be really good at this thing because my life literally depended on it. what else am i gonna do? Imagine what that mindset did for me. i was literally doing this stuff every day of the week at any little chance i could get. There was no option for me to quit or say that i'm not motivated or any of those excuses. its either i was good at it or i'm done for. I had no backup plan.

2, Another thing that really helped me (this is like the most important) was the support of my mother. She stood by me all through the whole school ish and just kept supporting any decision that i made. she bought me my first laptop. she was a petty trader at the time but i had no idea what she saw in me that made her support my 'craziness' as my other siblings would put it. You need a support system

Forget about programming languages or frameworks for now. You need to get your head straight and understand how your circumstances should be your fuel.

For me and my mom, it all paid off in the end. God knows there's nothing that woman will ask me for in this life that i won't get for her. As long as money can buy it.

This is awesome, It's all about determination.
I may lack a support system truly.
God bless your mother.

tensazangetsu20:


Damn bros you are just like me. My mom gets all my money now. No questions asked. She even keeps a large potion of my earnings. No problems for me. As for my dad, shishi he wont see from my hand

Comrade, be calming down o.

TheTraveler:


Yeah, long term > short term.

What stack are you learning?

Web development. What of you?
I just started with HTML 2weeks ago

gheekhone:
Good on you for finding a suited to you on udemy especially for a complete stack. Coursera is kinda pricey for the average Nigerian but thank God for their financial aid package. That helps a lot.

What of Pluralsight. Their contents and Learning Paths look very Comprehensive. I have used them in addition to Udemy and it works well for me. https://www.pluralsight.com/offer/2021/q4-free-week?acta=webengage_free_week

tensazangetsu20:

Yeah she is but she earns a pittance. My dad is a lawyer too also earns a pittance. Both of my parents are well educated but very poor. I also have an engineering degree which was absolutely useless.

Everything makes sense now. Your candid reply is nice AF.

tensazangetsu20:


Damn bros you are just like me. My mom gets all my money now. No questions asked. She even keeps a large potion of my earnings. No problems for me. As for my dad, shishi he wont see from my hand

I die multiple times after reading this. Why nah?

Thanks.

Their courses are plenty o. I'll definitely check them out when I'm ready for some of those they offer, although I was already courting Udacity.

Vicky2k:


What of Pluralsight. Their contents and Learning Paths look very Comprehensive. I have used them in addition to Udemy and it works well for me. https://www.pluralsight.com/offer/2021/q4-free-week?acta=webengage_free_week

kennethfranc:

Web development. What of you?
I just started with HTML 2weeks ago

Same here.
3 1/2 months into this. You can reachout.

TheTraveler:

Nice, keep it up king.

Thanks boss

Please sir ,how did you managed to overcame power failure of Nigeria (I mean NEPA)

tensazangetsu20:
My motivation was poverty. Before becoming a programmer, I used to be a mechanic and it was a miracle for me to even see 50k in a whole month. I was always so broke. Wearing tattered clothes. All my trousers were torn in the ass and people would see my balls when walking. I started thinking of getting a job when nothing was working and almost all the jobs online with good pay were programming jobs thats how I took the plounge. Used my last card to buy a HP folio and was studying ten hours everyday atleast for six months.

Smartlight:
Please sir ,how did you managed to overcame power failure of Nigeria (I mean NEPA)

This is one of my challenges too, here we barely boast of 3hrs of light, really disheartening.

I have planned changing location because of this.

May God help us.

TheTraveler:


This is one of my challenges too, here we barely boast of 3hrs of light, really disheartening.

I have planned changing location because of this.

May God help us.

I guess am blessed in that aspect... We usually have light for 18-20 hrs daily

ReactJs:
Bro if you've gone through a some of my posts, you would've probably come across where i've mentioned that i've got no degree. Dropped out of uni twice. In a below middle-class nigerian home, this is tantamount to ostracization from your folks because they believe nothing good can come out of your life and you'll end up being a worthless piece of sh!t. So i can say i fairly understand what you're going through. I'm gonna tell you 2 things. which is based on exactly how i made it to where i am today.

First is your mindset, When i started learning, i understood that i had to be really good at this thing because my life literally depended on it. what else am i gonna do? Imagine what that mindset did for me. i was literally doing this stuff every day of the week at any little chance i could get. There was no option for me to quit or say that i'm not motivated or any of those excuses. its either i was good at it or i'm done for. I had no backup plan.

2, Another thing that really helped me (this is like the most important) was the support of my mother. She stood by me all through the whole school ish and just kept supporting any decision that i made. she bought me my first laptop. she was a petty trader at the time but i had no idea what she saw in me that made her support my 'craziness' as my other siblings would put it. You need a support system

Forget about programming languages or frameworks for now. You need to get your head straight and understand how your circumstances should be your fuel.

For me and my mom, it all paid off in the end. God knows there's nothing that woman will ask me for in this life that i won't get for her. As long as money can buy it.

Boss. From your moniker, I can conclude React is part of your stack. Please can I get your number? I would like to seek some advice from you which can easily be communicated via phone call. incase you don't want to expose your number here, you can email me at dayvyno@gmail.com. I would really appreciate sir. Thanks in advance