Can Shortcuts Increase Your Learning Time As A Programmer?

Let’s talk about how looking for shortcuts can increase the time it takes you to become a productive programmer.

I’ve put this video together because I think it’s a very important topic; and that’s how looking for shortcuts can actually increase the time it takes you to become a programmer. Now, the reason for this is that by looking for shortcuts, basically you’ve got your finger on the pulse or on the time. You’re gonna stay looking at your watch all the time and you’re trying to figure out the shortest amount of time.

So, you’re not focusing on learning, so much as focusing on how much time you’re taking to learn. By doing that, you’re gonna miss things. Like for an arguments sake, let’s assume you’ve watched a particular video and you didn’t fully understand it. If you’re really focused on learning it, you might decide, “Well heck, I’m gonna go back and re-watch that video.” But if you’re focused on completing things in the shortest amount of time, you’re gonna think to yourself, I think I probably learned enough about that. In other words, you’re gonna probably, in some cases at least, talk yourself into assuming that you’ve learned enough about that video and move on to the next one.

Obviously I’m talking about videos here, but this could be a book or whatever material you’re using to learn to program. So, don’t focus on taking short cuts, it’s really critical. My answer to that normally is, don’t take any shortcuts at all. People ask me that question. Focus on the journey, enjoy the journey and don’t look at it trying to figure out that okay, I wanna get to here in two months or one month, or whatever it is. It’s going to take as much time as it takes and it’s a very much an individual thing.

So again, don’t focus on time frames. Focus on the skills. And if you don’t understand something, go back and review that chapter, re-watch that video, whatever it is. Retake the programming assignment, redo it again. By doing that, by focusing on actually learning this and saying to yourself, “Okay, I really do understand this now”, you’re gonna become a better programmer. So when it comes time to get your first programming job, or career advancement, or whatever it is, you’re gonna be in a better position cause you’ve actually really absorbed and learned the skills.

I hope that helped. If you’ve got any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I’ll get back to you.