
Ask HN: How can I keep focused? - lost_throwaway
I´m at a point in my life where I know that I want to pursue a programming related future but I cannot seem to focus on keeping on the same track.<p>I have been following the tech community and been around computers my whole life and even though I have some experience programming every time I choose to start learning X language (i.e. not creating simple programs but to reach a point where I would be able to consider myself a proficient developer) I soon change my mind because Y seems to be more fun&#x2F;efficient&#x2F;demanded&#x2F;functional&#x2F;whatever reason and start procrastinating one more time.<p>Have you been in a similar situation? If so I´d love to hear some recommendations as I truly believe this is what I want to do for a living.<p>Thank you.
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Nickersf
I've been there. Especially in the beginning of this year. I forced my self to
finish a JavaScript and Jquery book without stopping to change. Great, now I
can make better (or slower) web pages and know JS - big deal. The purpose was
to sit, and really learn all the core aspects of a given language.

This is mainly a matter of self discipline. This term I'm taking a C++ course
at college. Skimming the book for the class, I already feel far more confident
with the material knowing another language.

After learning one language I would suggest using that new skill set to
reproduce some traditional software applications (Calendar, Calculator, Text
Editor, ...). Additionally it would be wise to test how well you can read
other peoples code in that language. It took me about 2.5 months to be able to
work with JavaScript and the DOM effectively.

Also consider that compilation, weak/strong typing, data types, variable
assignment, for and while loops, if statements and logical/comparison
operators, and OOP exist in most languages. I found the key is understanding
these topics in one language. Beyond that it's a matter of adjusting to the
syntax in other languages.

Overall, find a strongly rated book on language ______ thoroughly complete the
material, make sure you understand it. Write some applications with it. Make
the time to do all of this. A line of code a day, or 20... Read about the
language with the bias towards learning. Drive yourself towards self learning
all the time. If all this seems like shitty chore most of the time, re-think
choosing programming as your career. Oh, and you have to love fixing broken
logic all the time.

Best of luck to you! Let me know how it all works out @nickersfpdx

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jaidzer0
I know exactly how you feel. It started when I devoted a bunch of time to
learning Fireworks (before Adobe got it) because it was a web tool, whereas
Photoshop was a photo tool. Well lo and behold PS became the industry standard
for "web design" :smh:

Then I started to try to get serious about programming and took a course on
what was sure to be the next big language: Adobe Flex. "What?" you may ask...
Exactly.

So I understand your fear man, because I've done it. Unless you're programming
for fun and friends, I'm going to assume it's for making money.

With that aim in mind I started doing a bunch of searches across employment
and freelance sites comparing number of programmers in X language VS number of
Jobs for programmers in X language.

You'll see a few rise to the top really fast. For me, Javascript is my baby at
the moment. Seems like the way of the future (even though its super old in
internet years) but who knows...

I'd look at the job boards and get a feel not just for what's hot and rising,
but what has staying power, a need, and a decent pay scale.

That's my two cents. Have fun!

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frigg
I've been there and often am there. The problem for me is that I consume too
much irrelevant and useless content. Browsing reddit, HN and other sites,
reading many news stories and blog posts, all of this impacts how much actual
work I can do and how much I can learn that is really relevant to my work. So
to be more productive you have to select what you think is important to read
and realize you can only read so much in a day until your brain says "stop".

But to achieve productivity you have to learn discipline. Motivation doesn't
last and there are no "tricks" or shortcuts to being productive if you want
long-term benefits. As Jim Rohn said "suffer the pain of discipline or suffer
the pain of regret".

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twunde
Yes, I've gone through this transition, as have several colleagues. 1) Start
blocking tech news sites you visit during the day (TechCrunch, hacker news,
etc). View these once per a day or preferably once a week. You'll find you're
able to concentrate on what you're working on and will stop being distracted
by the newest shiny language, library, framework etc. Next find done real
world use for your programming. It may be hard to grasp some concepts until
they're grounded with a problem you're facing.

