I’ve been dipping my toes in different programming languages to see what it is I want to do and so far, cybersecurity and game programming has grabbed my attention, but I’m having a hard time retaining information. I have ADHD and I’ve never been good at studying because I don’t know how to plan accordingly. Attention span is okay and I know my limits, but planning is not my strong suit.
If anyone has some studying tips that can help, especially when it comes to learning code, it would be helpful to have it in hand. Thank you (:
1 Like
A good place to start is to peruse the Community category here because you’ll find a lot of useful advice about studying & learning to code when other learners have posted a similar question.
That said,
-
Set aside a specific time every day for learning. Start in small time increments and then if you’re able, add more time.
-
Know when to take breaks when you’re stuck.
-
Take notes about what you’re learning–seeing coding concepts written in one’s own words helps one think about what they’re learning in a different way, rather than just reading words on a screen or a book.
-
Write code. Write comments in your code to describe what it is that you’re doing.
-
You’ll get frustrated. Be patient w/yourself. You’re learning a new language. Think of it this way: runners don’t learn to run 26.2 miles in one day. It takes training.
1 Like
Thank you so much for the advice! I already do the first 3 bullet points…well, maybe #3 is more like half way because I’m really bad at conceptualizing, so I’m going to practice more of that. I definitely avoid doing #4, so I’ll definitely push myself to do more of that.
1 Like
Right now, I’m dedicating one hour minimum per day. At the same time every day… at least four times in a week. If I feel good about it. I keep going for perhaps another 30 minutes. And then I’m done. I’m also writing things down so I can memorize and learn them. I too have short attention spans. 1 hour is my max. After that I have to get up and move about.
I also start every day as part of my one hour trying to do the last lesson (if it’s a short one) and reviewing to make sure I grasp the concept. we got this!
2 Likes
Hey! Thank you for answering. I’ve been doing 1 hour max too, but if I go over, I tend to skip days to avoid burnout. I’ve realized that’s when I tend to feel a whole lot better when I study (huge serotonin boost :D). I’ve been using Notion to write down my notes and printing Codecademy’s cheatsheets to study over and write down the examples we use in the lessons. It’s definitely helping, but I’m just nervous on still being clueless when it comes to studying 
I’m planning to also store and study the quizzes just to keep my brain on its toes 