Things that have helped in sticking to it thus far:
- I do it before work, right after my normal wake-up routine (get dressed, meditate, coffee). No excuses on this one. Been waking up 30min / 1 hour earlier.
- It has to be programming. Can't be reading books, watching videos, anything that's consumption and not creation. Naturally, reading my own code and reflecting on design count as production.
- On the latter, while reflection may be about 80% of coding, I'm trying to cultivate a working style where I write more instinctively and faster, and edit later.
- It cannot be HTML or CSS. I enjoy front-end work but it's not what I'm looking to improve.
- Likewise, for the moment, and as much as I love these activities, initial architecture and project planning don't count. I've found free time for that elsewhere thus far.
- If I don't have a project (work or hobby) that's interesting, immediately resort to Leetcode, Advent of Code, or anything and everything that gets me coding.
- Python is helping. I like many languages, but I know I can pick Python up at any time without too much ceremony. Good standard lib (including testing), good ecosystem, easy syntax, decent type system. Occasional hiccups with dependency and environment management make me want to throw the computer out of the window, but the positives far outweigh this, and such is programming.
- Kept a simple to-do file at the root of the project with an ordered product backlog. Keeping it more or less groomed has helped me jump immediately back into the action every morning.
- Liberal use of ChatGPT and Copilot. They're far from perfect and I see them derail often, but they've helped somewhat to keep motivation high by removing some of the grunt work.
- I do it before work, right after my normal wake-up routine (get dressed, meditate, coffee). No excuses on this one. Been waking up 30min / 1 hour earlier.
- It has to be programming. Can't be reading books, watching videos, anything that's consumption and not creation. Naturally, reading my own code and reflecting on design count as production.
- On the latter, while reflection may be about 80% of coding, I'm trying to cultivate a working style where I write more instinctively and faster, and edit later.
- It cannot be HTML or CSS. I enjoy front-end work but it's not what I'm looking to improve.
- Likewise, for the moment, and as much as I love these activities, initial architecture and project planning don't count. I've found free time for that elsewhere thus far.
- If I don't have a project (work or hobby) that's interesting, immediately resort to Leetcode, Advent of Code, or anything and everything that gets me coding.
- Python is helping. I like many languages, but I know I can pick Python up at any time without too much ceremony. Good standard lib (including testing), good ecosystem, easy syntax, decent type system. Occasional hiccups with dependency and environment management make me want to throw the computer out of the window, but the positives far outweigh this, and such is programming.
- Kept a simple to-do file at the root of the project with an ordered product backlog. Keeping it more or less groomed has helped me jump immediately back into the action every morning.
- Liberal use of ChatGPT and Copilot. They're far from perfect and I see them derail often, but they've helped somewhat to keep motivation high by removing some of the grunt work.