4 Simple Tips to Find Time for Learning Programming

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updated Jun 23, 2019

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Feeling like 24 hours a day isn’t enough for learning programming? Is there a way to find time for learning programming while still taking care of your daily routines, work, and family? As if learning how to code wasn’t difficult enough already, you feel like you’re constantly racing against the clock.

Luckily, as it turns out, you can use a handful of practical tips to find time for learning programming and stay consistent with your learning schedule. These tips can help you manage your time, reduce stress, and achieve better results with your learning.

In this post, I’ll walk you through 4 simple tips to find time for learning programming. By the time you finish reading this article, you have a few powerful tips up your sleeve to make the most of your hours every day.

Keep reading!

Here are a few related articles you might want to read, too:

Why learning coding is so difficult

When it comes to learning something completely new to you, you obviously need to invest plenty of time into it.

Learning how to code is no exception.

Acquiring news kills is time-consuming. And since most of us tend to grow impatient sooner or later, we often feel like we’re lacking time.

We have ambitious goals with learning coding and we’d like to see results as fast as possible, right?

But the more we learn, the more time-consuming it seems to become.

When you start working on bigger coding projects, they tend to eat up more and more of your valuable time. At least that’s how I feel all the time. Sometimes there’s so much going on in life that I just feel I don’t have that kind of time to spare.

So how do people find all this time they need then? I mean, we all have 24 hours to spend each day.

Yet, some people seem to achieve more in less time than others. Why is that?

Recommended: 10 Biggest Coding Myths You Should Ignore

How to find time for learning programming and web development - 4 practical time-saving tips

How I learned coding while working full-time:

Let me start with a few words about how I was feeling when I first started to learn how to code.

Initially, I felt like something was telling me that learning how to program would be the best thing that’ll happen to me in a long time. This was purely an intuition of some kind. I felt very strongly motivated, like I really wanted to do this for myself.

I knew I would probably understand the basics pretty quickly, but I was expecting a slow start nevertheless.

After all, I didn’t know much about Computer Science or even any basic fundamentals of programming languages.

Related: How Computer Science Basics Help You Learn Coding Faster

Time-wise, the harsh reality was that I wouldn’t have all the time in the world to invest in coding. I had a full-time job back then, so that alone wiped out 50% of my time awake during the week.

So, concerning time, I was definitely having mixed emotions about the journey I was about to embark upon.

On one hand, I felt like it was something I really wanted to do. But on the other hand, I was a bit sceptical about whether I would really find enough time to actually achieve the goals I had set for myself.

So how did I manage to find the time for this time-consuming hobby-turned-job then?

4 Easy Ways to Find Time for Learning Programming

Let’s take a look at 4 practical ways for making the most of your time while learning how to code:

  1. Defining clear goals
  2. Knowing your “why”
  3. Prioritizing your scarce hours
  4. Building a learning routine

Now I’m not a cognitive psychologist or anything, but these 4 ways worked extremely well for me.

A few months after I started learning coding, I decided to quit my job. I thought it would be a good idea to pursue learning web development full-time.

At that time, I was just starting out with my first freelance jobs online. But there was no way that income would pay my bills in the long run, so I was taking a big risk there.

Related: How to Become a Freelance Web Developer: Step-by-Step Guide

However, it paid off – big time. After focusing on learning new skills for a few months, my freelance work turned into a full-time job and I started my own business.

And that’s something I believe you can achieve too if you want to.

Let’s get started with those time-saving tips!

Tip #1: Define clear and measurable goals

All in all, one thing productive people have in common is determination. They know exactly what they wish to achieve, so they work towards a clear target and stay focused.

With a clear goal in mind, you can manage your time more efficiently. You can track you progress and see how far you’ve come already.

That’s going to help you stay focused, even if you can’t dedicate much time to learning coding every day.

Think about what it is you actually want to achieve.

Why do you want to learn how to code?

When you’re focused, you don’t feel the temptation to wander off from the path you’re following. This will save you tons of time because you’ll know to avoid spending time on things that don’t take you closer to your goal.

Related: The Best Way to Learn Coding: Beginner’s Guide

Tip #2: Know why you’re learning coding

Apart from your goals, you should also think about your “why”. Now, I mention this in several articles, but it’s the #1 factor for making sure you’re aware of your motivation.

Thus, take a few moments to think about why you want to learn to code in the first place:

  • Do you want to achieve financial freedom?
  • Or spend more time with your family and friends?
  • Perhaps you want to start a new career in tech to pursue your dreams?

Whatever your “why” is, make sure you write it down somewhere. That’s the one thing that will help you through any rough patches you may have while learning.

Because the truth is: learning how to code is difficult. It’s a lot of work and you can’t expect to achieve success quickly.

So what does this have to do with time management?

Here’s the deal:

When you know what that is, you’ll find it easier to find time for learning programming and to stay focused on what you’re doing.

What this means is that you’ll find a hunger to learn coding, no matter how little time you have available. You’ll get more things done in less time under this “positive pressure”.

This kind of motivational drive is probably the single most important reason why I managed to learn Python so quickly.

I spent around one hour every day learning actively. But I was processing the topic throughout the day in my mind, engaging on a more or less conscious level. I was talking about learning programming with my colleagues and friends all the time. Even when they didn’t want to hear it. (Sorry for that!)

Recommended: Learning Programming: Online Courses vs. Books – Which One Should You Use?

Tip #3: Learn how to prioritize (cut-throat!)

This is probably the most obvious way to find time for learning programming or any other new skill.

Prioritizing isn’t always easy, but it’s the best way to make sure you’re dedicating your scarce time to things that make you happy and give you something back.

If learning how to code is something you really want to do, rethinking your priorities shouldn’t be a problem.

As I mentioned before, if you feel motivated to achieve your goals, this will be easier than you think.

It’s surprising how much “loose time” you can find in just one single day. That’s the time you spend watching TV or browsing aimlessly through social media.

And the truth is:

Those things are super easy to start but so difficult to stop.

Of course, I don’t mean to say I know how much time you’re spending on the couch, don’t get me wrong here. What I mean is that just see if there’s something you spend time on without getting something back from it.

The bottom line is that you don’t need to give up things you love doing just to learn coding. Just be aware of what you spend your time on.

See what’s eating up your hours and see if you could cut down the time for a certain activity by 50%, for example.

Tip #4: Build a routine with a learning schedule

Once you manage to find the time to learn coding in the first place, create a habit out of it right away.

Always try to do it around the same time every day, keeping your schedule consistent and your mind focused.

Making a routine out of your learning sessions quite simply makes it more difficult for you to get distracted.

You’re also less likely to not have time every day that way if you know coding is the only thing you should be doing at that time.

If you know you’re going to sit down for learning something new at the same time every day, you’ll also be better prepared for taking in and adopting all that new input and information.

Additionally, it’ll be easier for you to maintain your focus throughout that time.

Final thoughts: How to find time for learning programming

Whatever your goals are once you start learning how to code, finding enough time for your new hobby can be tricky. But using the tips in this article can help you find time for learning programming – starting today!

Just know that you can do it, whatever happens. If you feel like learning how to code is something you really want to do, you’ll find the time for it, trust me.

Start with tracking your time and seeing what you spend your hours on every day. Then, find an activity that you could cut down by 50%. Use the other 50% of that time for learning coding.

When you’re done, head over to my post with the best websites to learn coding for beginners. I’ll see you there!

Believe me, you have the time! Now go find it! Then use it wisely!

What time management tips have you used? Drop me a line in the comments section!

Here are a few helpful articles you might want to read:

If you enjoyed this post on how to find time for learning programming, share your thoughts in the comments below!

P.S. Share this post with others if you found it helpful! Thanks for your support!

I’ll see you in the next post! Happy coding!
– Mikke

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About Mikke

Hi, I’m Mikke! I’m a blogger, freelance web developer, and online business nerd. Join me here on MikkeGoes.com to learn how to code for free, build a professional portfolio website, launch a tech side hustle, and make money coding. When I’m not blogging, you will find me sipping strong coffee and biking around town in Berlin. Learn how I taught myself tech skills and became a web dev entrepreneur here. And come say hi on Twitter!

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Kris Dimas
1 January 2022 3:03 am

wow, so glad i found you.
going thru ur articles 1 by 1.

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