My experience with #100DaysOfCode Challenge

I have always admired the self-taught programmers. It displays a person's dedication to the field as well as the ability to persist through obstacles.

What is the #100DaysOfCode Challenge ?

It is a community of developers who take up the challenge to code for an hour every day, and tweet their progress to #100DaysOfCode

Why I started 100DaysOfCode Challenge?

• Wasted more than 100 hours jumping from subject to subject without making significant progress in any (unfocused efforts)
• Trying to study entire concepts in 1 day (inability to break down learning into stages)
• Lack of commitment/discipline (chasing outcomes rather than liking the process)

What I learnt

• Comfortable clothes = improves learning ability
• Quiet/Well lit Environment = improves learning ability
• Periodic Work/Rest Intervals (Pomodoro method) - Improves focus and problem solving
• Personally, I stop after 1 hour of studying
• If I want to study longer, I schedule it after a few hours
• I use tomato-timer.com [on another Windows Desktop Screen]
• Direction comes first, small progress second
• Know your outcome
• Experiment with different methods/tutorials/courses
• Change is uncomfortable initially
• Once I completed Web Developer Bootcamp course on Udemy, I was directionless for weeks. I kept putting in the effort and eventually I found my outcome. Experimented with different tutorials/courses and finally found something that makes it easy to follow.
• Learn from your negative emotions
• Frustration = what you are doing isn't working. Try something else, or try again later.
• Most other negative emotions = not enough sleep/water/food/exercise
• Coding daily became a habit after ~60 days
• Adapt the challenge so that you can sustain it for many days
• I intentionally took off 1 day/week.
• Keep your mind away from coding on the rest day. It helps you recover and be ready for the next week.
• Stop coding 45 minutes before bedtime
• Otherwise you can expect to dream about text editor and bugs
• Reading/Responding to other challengers tweets helps
• I don't feel like I am alone. I see other people putting in the effort to improve their abilities. It reminds me that I'm on the right track.
• Coding for 1 hour/day is easy/sustainable
• Initially I was studying 3-4 Pomodors a day. It was really hard but I kept pushing through it. Watching tutorials at 2-2.5x speed. I messed up at one point.
• Code along every 10 minutes = super effective
• If you are watching a tutorial of say 8 minutes. After the video ends, practise implementing the code in your browser.
• If you are watching a 30 minute video. Pause every 5-10 minute. And implement the code till there = deepens your understanding. This will make it easier to understand the following concepts.
• If the tutorial is too complex for you, try coding along for shorter duration.
• Be patient
• Things go slowly sometimes. As long as you are making progress, you will get there eventually.
• Learning Intermediate/Advanced GitHub concepts was really hard for me. Like SSH keys, Putty, Git for Cpanel, GitLab/GitHub, GitKraken/SourceTree, Branches, Stash, WebHooks etc.
• 1 week's struggle made it possible for me to learn little more complex concepts next week. I still haven't got the perfect workflow, but I made good progress in that direction.
• Ask for help
• Learning programming can be really complex at times. It is hard to know what you should do when tackling a problem outside your expertise. That is why getting someone else's help will save you some effort and trouble.
• Reddit/Stackoverflow are some good options.
• Learn using your preferred learning style
• Personally I learn faster using visuals and video --> Therefore I use YouTube a lot.
• If you like reading, you can use blogs or other methods which suits your natural learning ability.

Recommended Resources for Wordpress (YouTube)

• WPLearningLab
• WPCrafter
• Darrel Wilson

Finding good Wordpress tutorials was hard for me. I found Theme Development tutorials too complex. The above people use plugins to build a website and their content is amazing and easy to follow.

What next

• Planning on getting started with Hacktoberfest
• I plan on starting other 30 Day Challenges for Food Tracking, Meditation, etc.

Advice to reader

• All the points I have shared, I have learnt through trial and error. Many of these lessons are hard to grasp intellectually, but happens experientially. 
• All the points I shared are kind of my habits now (I have momentum)
• The best advice I can give you is to select 1 point that resonated with you, do follow it for 30 days. I recommend printing this calender

If you'd like to connect, my Twitter handle is @rahuls360 . I'll be glad to take questions or help you out.