Keep Coding: 7 Tips to Keep Your Motivation – Even When It Gets Tough

Coding motivation & tips to help you learn to code for free

The first few weeks of your coding journey are like bliss. As soon as you sit down to learn, the world around you disappears, and only the screen gets your undivided attention. You blaze through each lesson, and as soon as you’re done, you’re eager to go for another round. 

Unfortunately, as time goes on, your passion seems to go away with it. You suddenly find yourself with dozens of tabs in your browser — full of articles, videos, and other resources — all unfinished signs of your dwindling motivation. 

But here’s the good news. With proper planning and the right mindset, you can keep your motivation alive throughout your coding journey. Let’s see how. 

1. Know why you want to code

As with any journey, you need to know your why before taking a plunge into coding. Having some fun, stimulating your mind, gaining an edge at work, or even starting a career in software engineering — your reason could be anything. What matters is that you’re crystal clear on what it is. If you can figure that out, you’ll have a powerful purpose to fall back on when the next time motivation goes down. 

2. Define your coding goal and visualize it

Just like knowing your why is the first step of any journey, defining your one big goal is the first step towards achieving it. The key here is to make it as specific as you can. For example, learning how to create a website using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript within the next four weeks. 

Once you’ve defined your goal, you need to visualize it. Take a deep breath and imagine yourself working towards that goal. Imagine what it feels like. See what the end looks like. Visualization might seem silly at first, but research has shown that you can improve any skill just by visualizing yourself practicing it. 

3. Have a clear plan

Your coding journey doesn’t differ from that of any other beginner. You need a clear plan if you want to reach the destination. For instance, knowing which programming languages to learn isn’t enough. You also need to know which specific aspects to learn and when to learn them. By having a clear plan, you’ll be well on your way to a smooth coding journey. 

4. Break down goals

With goals, you need to keep two perspectives in mind. The long term and the short term. Your long-term goal could be to learn website coding over the next four weeks. While that long-term goal will motivate you initially, you need to aim for smaller wins to keep your spirits up in the long run. 

That’s why breaking up big long-term goals into smaller short-term goals is so important. For instance, you can challenge yourself to build an online resume with HTML to start with. You can then take it a step further by using CSS to make it look pretty. By breaking goals down like this, you’ll feel a sense of achievement every step of the way. 

5. Keep coding fun

Don’t let your passion for coding turn into a resentful practice. If you get stuck somewhere or just feel like you’re in a rut, take a step back and mix things up. If a JavaScript exercise is puzzling you nonstop, try creating some memes with HTML and CSS instead. 

Once you’re feeling good again, give that JavaScript exercise another shot. Your subconscious mind’s ability to solve problems in the background will surprise you. 

6. Keep track of your success

Keeping track of your success and celebrating small wins is just as important as making progress. The good news is that by breaking down your goals, you’ve already set yourself up for tracking your success. Now you just need to take a moment every now and then to sit back and reflect on your achievements so far. You’ll get an instant boost of motivation every time you’ll do this. 

7. Code something you want to share

Learning arbitrary coding concepts can get boring after some time. To keep your motivation up, think of all the things you’ve always wanted to create. Then use your newfound coding skills to make them happen. Just don’t forget to start with the simplest version possible. You can then work your way up from there. 

Conclusion

The burst of motivation at the start of a project is short-lived. That’s why you need to put these seven motivation tips into practice as soon as you can. You can also check our five reasons why learning to code can change your life.

To help you do that, Mimo offers a clear path for your coding journey filled with bite-sized lessons to help you learn with fun. As you make progress, Mimo also keeps you updated on where you’re at in your journey. 

Every once in a while, you get to bring all your skills and knowledge together in the form of real-world projects you’ll be proud to call your own. See the difference Mimo can make by downloading today. 

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to give your friends the gift of motivation by sharing it with them. And if you want to start learning to code you can download Mimo from App Store or Google Play and start your coding journey.