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Focus on What's Important

Okay so before I start fixing this page to be more asthetic and all, I have to dump out some thoughts.

I have just listened to "What I'd Do to Become A Web Developer in 6 months" by a guy named Chris. I can relate to his story and his way of thinking.

After hearing what he has to say I realized that we also had similar goals in mind. I am aiming to become a "programmer" at the end of 2021. I will run out of my savings at that time and I'll either go drive a forklift or I will be paid to program cool stuff.

But the problem is I realized was that.. yes.. just like I hate biting an enormous 5 layer burger, the same way I am attempting to bite this goal… I open my mouth way too much, trying to get hold of many comepletely new things to me (python, wordpress, php, php, css, linux, vim, ftp, terminals, local and live servers, vscode and all that stuff…

YES. All of this is going to be necessary to me one day, all of this is super interesting to me and I can't get this mindset of "know how everything works" out of my head.

My learning process would look like this - I want to make a website for myself. Okay, what do I need? I need a domain name, I need a hosting provider I need some php and css background, I need to know how to manage my servers admin panel, maybe I should build it with wordpress, so then I need to learn that and then php would be useful as well… I start learning all those things first, getting wayyy off my original goal of just simply building a website. Of course, I learn a lot by following such a messy path, some information even get's stuck in my head, like for example I am now comfortably using vim and its commands, I have integrated hmtl addon so I don't have to manually type the php tags like I did back in the day. So jumping from place to place is a useful way of learning, BUT it doesn't give me any sense of achievement… To reach my goal of building a simple website I will learn all these skills… but that process will be endless because there is always something to learn. I will be chasing something and not actually use my skills. (up until now it was going good with this story but now I have to jump, cuz I lost my train of thought.)

Okay, so my realization - I have a limited amount of time. I have to use it to learn skills that will allow me o workd remotely and I will enjoy such work. After checking some job ads in Lithuania, a lot of the positions are available for junior positions. I think it would be a good idea for me to work for someone first before doing freelancing. Many jobs requiring hmtl, css, js, php, wordpress… not so many requiring python.

Right now I am heavily invested in learing python, doing a Stanford course that I love and I am using a lof of hours of the day for it. Then after I do php/css stuff and lastly some php. I feel like if I dedicate lest say 4 hours to python, then 3 to css stuff and 2 to php, I learn little bit of everything, but… I am not good at anything and I am moving at a really slow pace. And slow pace is not the problem in itself is the sense of achievement perhaps.. I would like to have something tangible in my hands that I have completed or learned.. Now, after 3-4 months of being curious about programming I feel like I don't know anything that could make me a living. But perpahs I don't know how to sell mysefl.. idk.

What the Chris guy explained and that seemed like a solid strategy is to focus on HTML / CSS for one month. (I tried this beforer wiht machine leanring and also wiht data science) and after that, for the second month - focus on JavaScript. Just JavaScript. My intention would be to mix side things, learn little bit of php learn little bit of react, learn little bit of terminal and so on and so on, but WAIT!!!!! In this way I feel like there is no end to learning, I feel like every waking moment of my day has to be spent learning to code, because there is so much to learn! I skip meals, I skip workouts, I skip meetings with loved ones, I skip reading and other random tasks just to sit more in front of the computer and absorbe little pieces of all sort of information that are not really realted to the thing I am tryint to learn, which is in second month - JavaScript.

You see what I mean? After the second month of learning solo JavaScript I would be all up until my neck in various other side skills that I am not perfect and the JavaScript knowledge also would not be sufficient to move to the next level… I already imagine how sweet my days will look like when I am learning just one topic at a time, dedicating myself in it, asking questions that I come up with on some forums and so on, having time for mysefl and so on.

No order

I forgot to mention what I am involved in right now:

Yes order

I mean… I kind of understand how wordpres, php and python work in essence. I know that many things can be done and I just need to search for it, but perhaps I could focus on those whenever I need it in my project, little by little, no all at once now. Yes, my goal was to be a professional with python to automate eveyday task form myself and others, but perhaps I could first focus on the "yes order" things and only later on what is fun…

So does it mean that I will put aside the python project? That I am currently almost finished with? I might, it won't run away anywhere. Same wiht php? Yes. I should do less of the turorials and wiht that extra headspace try to solve my own problems rather that following someone else solving them form me.

Tutorial hell is real.