October 2019 Learning Update

In October I quit the coding bootcamp I was in, and started teaching myself to code again. My previous attempts at self-directed learning have been successful and unsuccessful in their own ways, and from these experiences I have learned what works and doesn’t work for me. Combining this knowledge with renewed determination helped me to make the most of the second half of October.
One of my primary focuses as I re-started this learning path was flexibility. As a recovering perfectionist, I have a tendency to be hard on myself if I make a plan and don’t stick to it. This month, I began getting comfortable with making a plan and being ok with completely changing it. Plans are a good starting point, but they need to evolve as life does, and as you learn more about yourself and learning style.
I started logging my progress via the 100 Days of Code hashtag, but have modified the rules for me. Instead of a sequence of 100 days, I’m focusing on the overall knowledge I’ll acquire after 100 days of studying a topic. I also started a spreadsheet that I use to track my daily progress more specifically than the hashtag (I log courses, lessons completed, etc.). This spreadsheet has been a great way to celebrate what I’ve achieved, and is helpful to look back at on days when I feel guilty for not coding, or feel like I haven’t done “enough.”
This month, I learned primarily via freeCodeCamp, and The Complete Web Developer course on Udemy (I’ll be continuing with these until all of the lessons are completed). I’m most proud of gaining a better understanding of CSS grid and flexbox this month. Those were two topics that were very confusing to me for a while, and now I’m comfortable utilizing both. For grid and flexbox, resources outside of freeCodeCamp and Udemy were helpful, especially the following:
The final thing that helped me this month is not tech related. I resumed my meditation practice via Insight Timer. The goal is daily meditation, and some weeks I’m better at achieving this than others. It’s added a lot of peace to each day, and has helped me to be more patient with myself and others.
In November, I’m diving into JavaScript, and will also set aside some time to utilize the concepts I learned in October. I’ve achieved more than I expected in the last few weeks, and I’m excited to see what I’ll learn in the upcoming ones.
