My brother told me to stop trying to learn everything at once and it finally clicked

I was trying to learn Python last week, and I kept jumping from making a simple number guesser to trying to build a web scraper after watching one video. I told my brother, who's a software engineer, and he said, 'You're trying to drink from a firehose. Pick one tiny thing and make it work, even if it's dumb.' He told me to just make a program that asks for your name and says hello back, and then make it ask for your favorite color too. It sounded so boring, but I did it. After I got that to work, I felt way less lost. I spent maybe two hours just adding little bits to that same program instead of starting over. Has anyone else found that slowing way down actually made learning faster?

3 comments

3 Comments

elliot95021d ago

Totally get this. I tried learning guitar last year and just kept trying full songs. My friend told me to just practice changing from a C chord to a G chord for ten minutes a day. It felt pointless, but after a week I could actually switch without pausing. That small win made me want to learn the next chord. Slowing down to nail the basics builds a real foundation you can actually use.

rosebarnes20d agoTop Commenter

Oh man, @elliot950 is totally right about the chord thing (even if it feels silly at first). It's like trying to run before you can walk without tripping over your own feet. I tried to learn a fancy song right away once and just made a horrible noise for a week. Slowing down to actually get the basic moves right isn't about pressure, it's about not sounding terrible to your own ears. That foundation thing is just the secret to not quitting in total frustration.

hannahm3921d ago

Slowing down to nail the basics" sounds like a lot of pressure for a hobby. Most people just want to play a few songs for fun, not build a perfect foundation. It doesn't always have to be that serious.