How I Make Coding FUN with Simple Habits (and achieve my goals)

why does coding sometimes feel boring frustrating  and even anxiety inducing sometimes you just   sitting there staring at a screen and it feels  like you're making no progress and honestly coding   is the opposite to the instant dopamine hits  we get from social media movies or video games   it's something that requires patience focus and  repetition but coding is also the skill that has   transformed my life it landed me my first job  and from there has opened so many doors it has   afforded me this freedom to travel the world and  work solo I've been coding for over 8 years now   and let me tell you I wouldn't have been able  to stick with it for this long if it felt like   a constant grind over time I found ways to make  coding enjoyable and something I genuinely look   forward to doing so in this video I'll share some  tricks to make every coding session feel rewarding   not stressful and I'll give you some simple ways  to gamify the process and build an environment   that gets you coding consistently video games are  known for being extremely addictive they tap into

core elements like progression and rewards to  keep players engaged so let's borrow these same   principles to make coding just as enjoyable  progression break down your goals into small   achievable Milestones this shortens the  feedback loop allowing you to regularly   check off Milestones giving you a clear sense  of progression as you complete each Milestone   it keeps you motivated to tackle the next one  I also use my GitHub contributions chart as a   way to visualize my streak and overall consistency  once I get a streak going I'm motivated to keep it   alive there have been many times where I didn't  feel like coding but the fact I wanted to keep   my streak alive forced me to write some code and  push some commits and often these initial commits   lead to longer productive coding sessions reward  after a long and productive coding session you   should reward yourself for the hard work you've  put in treat yourself to something you enjoy   eat your favorite meal binge some YouTube  or spend some time with friends not only   only is this enjoyable it trains your brain  to associate coding with positive emotions   and over time your brain will want to code out  of habit even when there is no reward lined up   simply because it remembers the satisfaction  associated with it an effective resource that   makes the learning to code fun and engaging is  Scrimba is a platform with interactive   courses on everything from front end to full  stack development the unique scrims technology   truly makes learning to code an enjoyable  experience it lets you run and preview your code   in real time directly in the browser along with  that one of the things that sets scrimba apart   from other platforms is the ability to code along  with the teacher this lets you practice and apply   what you've learned by doing not just watching  and you can rewind or fast forward anywhere in   the tutorial to correct your mistakes and learn  at your own pace and what I really love about   Scrimba is their focus on project-based learning  they provide useful code templates to help you   build and ship projects faster for example they  have code Snippets to help you create a simple   AI chat app or your own portfolio website  to Showcase your work and here's the best part   Scrimba's content is regularly updated so you can  be confident in staying up to date with the latest   Technologies and Trends if you couldn't tell  I'm super excited and grateful to be working   with Scrimba check them out first link in the  description all of my most enjoyable coding

sessions happen when I enter Flow State everything  just clicks writing code feels effortless and time   flies by the end of the session I feel  accomplished and I cannot wait to go again   this is one of the reasons that makes coding  so addictive once you are able to tap into the   Flow State it's like experiencing a high unlike  anything else here are some ways that reliably   gets me into Flow State and more importantly stay  there the first step is to create an optimized   workspace it goes without saying if you are trying  to do deep work but not eliminating distractions   you are self-sabotaging your productivity turn  off notifications silence your phone and close   any extra tabs I like to keep my desk minimal so  that's just my laptop a coffee and nothing more   I also prefer working in libraries study cafes or  co-working spaces aside from the fact that these   places are built for focus and work I found that  being surrounded by others who are focused and   locked in motivates me to do the same it gives  an unspoken sense of accountability our brains   need to be primed before a deep work session and  be given closure at the end of one as a quick   warm-up review yesterday's commits to refresh what  you did the day before then go over today's to-do   chose to set a clear goal for the session and  before logging off bring dump tomorrow's tasks   and any blockers into a text file or Journal this  helps clear your mind and primes you for a strong   start the next day as you'll know exactly where  to pick things up working in short intense bursts   help you get the most done in the least amount  of time in order to do this you must focus on   accomplishing only one thing at a time trying to  multitask will scatter your attention you don't   need a rigid Pomodoro Timer routine but when you  sit down to code commit to a singular task and I   usually keep going until I've completed the task  or at least made some progress on it but when you   feel like your focus is starting to fade take a  break and let your mind wonder sometimes stepping   away from a stubborn problem leads to those aha  moments as your brain works in the background

adopting the right mindset can transform coding  from being a grind into something genuinely fun   let's explore some mindset shifts that made a big  difference for me when you encounter bugs and new   challenges it's easy to view them as roadblocks  instead shift your perspective to see them as   opportunities to grow and innovate the solution  you're looking for likely exists you just haven't   found it yet prioritize progress over Perfection  if you've already made the big decisions of   choosing your app idea and which text tack  you will use then you don't need to waste time   obsessing over minor technical details or trying  to over engineer the most optimal solution when   it comes to coding you make the most progress and  have the most fun by doing it besides coding by   nature is iterative every app needs to be debugged  refact Ed and optimized at some point test your   code ship it and update it if needed and as a  reminder coding can be a lonely and challenging   activity and you should acknowledge that what  you're doing is hard tackling complex problems   and building something from nothing is not easy  if it was everyone would do it and it would have   no value lastly let's discuss something many of  us who spend a lot of time online could benefit   from a dopam mean detox now before you roll your  eyes from hearing this buzzword yes again hear me

out we all know over simulation from social media  video games and binge watching floods our brains   with dopamine and sadly this makes things that  require effort and focus like coding feel slow   and dull in comparison try limiting screen time  to 30 minutes to an hour a day put distracting   devices in different rooms or switch them off  completely put your phone on grayscale and   replace Doom scrolling with a workout walk or book  you'll find yourself experiencing less brain fog   better focus and higher productivity and over time  hard activities like coding will become enjoyable   again for more solo startup content please like  And subscribe and I'll see you in the next one