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Why Programmers Procrastinate and How to Stop
Procrastination is sneaky — don’t let it impede your learning
I love learning, yet I often struggle to learn new things.
It’s hard to admit, especially as I feel like I’m studying a lot. I’m aware that the technological landscape changes rapidly and I have to adapt.
But often, despite hours spent on keeping up, I fail to make significant progress. It feels like filling an endless pit without getting anything back. Eventually, I discovered a culprit — procrastination.
I’m a smart procrastinator. I don’t watch Netflix or YouTube. Instead, I give myself a learning illusion. I let my mind fool me I’m working hard when I’m lying relaxed on the sofa.
Have you had this experience?
It’s time to fight active procrastination. To beat our enemy, we must learn to recognize it. Here are some common ways we procrastinate and tips on escaping procrastination.
Watching Too Many Courses
I know it’s tempting. You want to learn something new and there’s a shiny new course, almost for free. So you buy it and start watching it.
The thing is, courses don’t automatically pour knowledge to your head. It may be useful to watch a class, especially at 1.5x speed, to get an introductory overview. But besides that, they’re mostly a waste of time.
You don’t learn to code by watching courses. To learn to program, you have to create projects. You have to challenge yourself, think on your own, and look for solutions. Courses are just the beginning, not the finish line.
An even worse kind of procrastination is re-watching courses. If you didn’t learn much the first time, what makes you think it will be better now? Getting through the documentation and building something by yourself is a much better investment of your time.
If you still want to take a course, be sure it’s good quality. If your teacher wants you to re-type CSS, you’re wasting your time (unless it’s a CSS course). Non-essential code should be available for you to download, and the code you write must have a direct connection to the course topic.
