How to stay Consistent in Coding?
So, I was consistent on Codeforces for 215 days, Leetcode for 199 Days, and InterviewBit for 202 Days. And following are the tips which helped me to become consistent.
💡 Find Your SOLID Reason!
You need to have a strong reason. So, find your reason. It can be anything (passion, money, parents, ex 😂). But the reason must be SOLID.
💡 Genuine Interest
The root cause of consistency is Interest. If you are genuinely interested in coding then you’ll become consistent. And the root cause of interest is importance, so read about the real life applications of programming in order to figure out the importance.
💡 Sense of Urgency
Naval Ravikant once said “Impatience with actions, patience with results”. One way to develop Sense of Urgency is to understand the importance of time. Right now, we are young and in our prime plus we can take risks (no family pressure) but after few years this will not be the case. So, become accountable for your time.
💡 Guilt kills Procrastination!
This factor played a huge role in my Consistency. There are some days where my productivity throughout the day is very less because of procrastination. And because of that I always feel guilty at the end of the day. So to avoid that feeling of guilt, I work. So that I can sleep peacefully at night with some sense of achievement.
💡 Long term thinking
There will be a point of time where you’ll work very hard but then also you’ll not see any results. Work hard but don’t get demotivated when the results are not coming, eventually the results will definitely come.
Compounding is World’s Slowest Magic Trick. So, you’ll have to grind for 1 or 2 years in order to see the complete magic.
💡 One Step at a time
If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one. Don’t try to learn everything at once. Don’t try to create too many goals at once. Start with one (or two) and master it and then move on for more bigger challenges. If you have more than three goals then sooner or later you’ll lose your consistency.
💡 You need a Routine!
Pick a time slot when your productivity is at peak and create a routine of working on the most important task in that particular time slot.
For me 9–12 in the morning works best. So, I always try to do the most difficult task in that time slot.
💡 Make Clear Goals based on Reality
Don’t make a plan to study for 3 hours daily, if you don’t even have the habit of studying for 30 mins. Instead start with 45 mins. Otherwise you’ll get demotivated if your goals are too unrealistic.
💡 Reward Yourself
Reward yourself after completing the tasks. It will provide sense of achievement. When I complete all of my tasks, I reward myself with Netflix show 😅.
💡 Become accountable for your actions
It is very easy to get distracted from your goals and blame others. But once you become accountable for your own actions then you’ll not blame others for the distractions. Also you’ll start recognizing your mistakes and after that focus on fixing them.
💡 Solve Leetcode daily challenge
Build a habit to solve Leetcode daily challenge everyday. It will definitely improve your consistency and will also help in revising the concepts.
So, these were some of the tips which I used in order to become consistent in coding.
