CNC2022 Code More journey reflection: not very productive but insightful

Name: Adrian

Title: Freelancer and front-end newbie

#CNC2022 cohort: Code more

Code More goal: Establish a regular/daily coding habit, aiming to get a job after completing the 301DaysOfCode by the end of this year.

Introduction

I'm Adrian, a self-taught (as most of us I guess) newbie. I enjoy creating things and solving problems but my main goal is to get a job in the field. I've completed several courses and certifications but I need more practical experience and I expected to build a stronger coding habit with this challenge.

Comment on mission's post:

Adrian Skar • Jan 28

Hi all! I'm Adrian from Spain and I'm in for the code more challenge. I'll also be joining the #301daysofcode one so, by the end of the year, my main goal is to have learned enough to get a dev. job.
You can find me on twitter, LinkedIn and GitHub. I'll be also putting up my site at adrianskar.com. Happy coding!

Mission 1

During mission 1 we established some basics regarding the why and the how in relation to the challenge.
My main motivation for this is building a habit and getting a job assuming I'd have enough time, energy and motivation, the riskiest being having enough time.
To help address them I tried to optimize my other tasks and rely more on others when necessary.

Comment on mission's post:

Adrian Skar • Feb 1 • Edited on Feb 1

Hi everyone!
In my case I basically wan't to code more because I enjoy it and I wan't to get a job at coding (guess getting one is the milestone). My main assumptions are that I'll have enough time, energy and motivation to do so. It can be hard having a different job and other responsibilities but I think I can do it.

- Mission 1 log

Mission 2

In mission 2 we broke down our goals into tasks and a schedule and planned for work sessions.

I already used an online tool to manage my tasks/work so I just implemented the challenge tasks into it. I set due dates rather than a schedule as I can't currently block specific hours to it.

I started using the pomodoro technique and found it very helpful. I also tried to prioritize tasks as to avoid letting non-essential ones take up my time.
Some personal issues left me with little time for the challenge but I managed to do something every day.

Comment on mission's post:

Adrian Skar • Feb 11

Hi everyone!
In my first session¹ I learned about studying techniques and practiced some CSS and JS. I was already using Clickup for work and personal projects so I used it to plan/setup Mission 2 within my own:

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1. I call it a session but it hasn't been a big chunk of time but several 'mini-sessions' (work and other responsibilities). ↩

Mission 3

During mission 3 we reviewed and iterated over our tasks and work sessions.
Keeping up with the pomodoro technique somewhat helped me keeping a healthy approach to more/new tasks. Though I spent more time researching than coding, I managed to complete some tasks. Some unexpected happenings kept me from reaching my goals so I had to postpone several tasks.

Comment on mission's post:

Adrian Skar • Feb 21

Late to the party but here nonetheless!

1. In the next session/s I plan to allocate bigger chunks of time so I can get more done.
2. I don't have much momentum as some unexpected things came up last week that required most of my time. Hope to gain more in the next weeks. Feeling somewhat frustrated but still motivated to dedicate as much time as I can to this.

Side note: I just discovered you can use Ctrl + B and Ctrl + I to toggle bold/italic text on this editor. 😃

Mission 4

Mission 4 was about reflecting and reviewing goals.
I felt I was making very little progress as I had much less time than I expected. I was still eager to learn but also frustrated. The idea of allocating specific hours for coding came to mind but most of my job and personal tasks come when they come and make that possibility a real challenge.
I needed to adjust goals again but learned about the experience, especially about keeping the habit even if I only had 15 minutes.

Comment on mission's post:

Adrian Skar • Mar 2

Forgot to post after completing this mission, 😕
I felt like I made some progress but not nearly as much as I would had I had the time I thought when I started the challenge.
I'll prioritize changes regarding task priorities to give this habit of coding and studying more relevance in my schedule. Thanks for reading!

Sticking to it

I have a task for it on my daily schedule so I don't have the chance to forget about it on really busy days and I'll keep testing the pomodoro technique and try to adjust its times/breaks to my own workflow.

Biggest challenges

The biggest challenge for me was building the habit (still on it) even on days when you don't think you have the time for it. Even 5 minutes can be enough to keep you on track and avoid loosing momentum.
My advice would be to keep going no matter what but try to do it, if you can, at the beginning of your work schedule so things that come later won't have the chance to eat that time.

Highlights and reflections

I've noticed that this challenge really makes you think about what you are doing with your time, feel your real progress, and reflect on what you are/are not accomplishing. Its like a new pair of lenses when you need them; you really didn't realize how limited your vision was before.
I plan to repeat it in the future and try to reflect and review my own progress more.
I've also met nice people (even though none of us have much time to spare),shout out to @anavela and @bredmond1019!

What's next for me

I'll keep building this habit and learning about everything but specially about how to learn, how to build a healthy and productive career and, hopefully, some nice 'codemates' to share it with.