How do you motivate yourself? Thank you :)

It is important to love what you are doing. Also the amount of "new" information diminishes once you have grasped the concept of programming. The programming language becomes unimportant, and it becomes more fun to just try the new technologies out there.

It is a lot easier to stay motivated once you're past the steep learning curve of programming.

Good luck

I agree with the suggestion Jennifer Nordell made about taking a break. Either take a break entirely, or spend some time experimenting with the things you recently learned, depending on how you feel. But take a break from cramming new stuff into your head. "Only eat when you're hungry".

And Jennifer, congrats on passing 40,000 points (and 400 badges). And in less than 6 months — you're certainly making the most of your subscription!

Ivana Lescesen I totally understand where you are coming from. When I first started learning programming I came across this blog post that really help put things into perspective for me. Take a read and I hope it helps:

why is learning to code so damn hard

some people do actually just love the work (or have convinced themselves they do), and that may affect the kind of answer you get. A lot of people have to have try and create systems to keep us engaged (to include work, rest, recharging the batteries), and work on our motivations. I watch online videos to try and keep my mind focused (angela duckworth on grit, kelly mcgonigal on will, other videos on things like locus of control, goals) and correct my extreme nihilistic and pessimistic tendencies. But I just want to say, it's not just you. All of us have netflix account that are way more interesting than learning swift. Its easy to see the people who are super keen, and get a faulty impression of what people have to do to get through self improvement. I have to regularly refocus on the avenues of life that are opened to me by my shiny hypothetical future. I also find that i'm most driven when i deal with driven people with similar goals. If you can get your social environment to bind you into your course of action, i think that might help.

(my 2 cents worth, though my name is not steven, jennifer, or john).

It gets overwhelming sometimes. I agree with everyone. Most people in the forums are very encouraging. So that's where I come. Also, for me when I feel like my brain is going to pop, I try working on a project that's more on the creative visual side. Like a new website, and practice all the css stuff I forgot cause I got so wrapped up in the programming part.

While you may not be writing a book, authors have to organize their time in a similar manner. In fact they have more similarities than someone who works as a CEO or a regular office job (most books on time management seem to address only these people). So read a good book on the writing process and creativity and adjust your tasks accordingly.

Thank you Simon Coates :)

You are all so awesome thank you :)