I am currently doing a full stack course through ITcareer switch in the UK. Included on the course is basically codecademy pro, however they aren’t very good at keeping me motivated. Can’t seem to keep to a schedule which is driving me up the wall!
Any advice on scheduling would be absolutly amazing. I work full time during the week, then having 2 toddlers its insane… anyway that was my sob story.
I’ll cover scheduling first.
The schedule is your lifeline. Whatever progress you make is simply an act of planning, scheduling, and executing, where executing being the most important part. What I would advise you is to either a) try to wake up 1 hour earlier (when toddlers are still sleeping) or b) go to sleep 1 hour later (when toddlers fall asleep).
Now, depending on your current schedule you may or may not be able to do what I mentioned above. If you’re unable to do either, what you can do is you can try to fit programming into your daily life by blocking at least 25 minutes to completely focus on coding, ideally block all distractions including putting your phone on airplane mode if you’re able to.
What will help you is to plan tomorrow today, so when you wake up you’re not wondering what you should do but instead you’ll just execute on what you have already scheduled.
What I found works well for many parents is that they optimize the heck out of the weekend. That’s where you can make some solid progress. The best practice is to do the hard things first in the morning. Let’s say wake up earlier and code for 2-3 hours straight, or do the same at night.
Motivation.
The main thing you want to find out is why are you doing this.
Is it because you want to be a better father and provide for your family?
Is it because you want your children to have a better life than you have right now?
Is it because you want to finally do something that you like or that makes you money?
Find your why and keep reminding yourself why you started each time you are feeling down or feeling like you don’t want to do the work.
You’re the one who is responsible for your life. There’s no magic pill. It’s hard but it’s worth it.
Each day you have a choice to be better than you were yesterday. Even if it’s just 15 minutes of coding.
Motivation will only take you so far, what you need is a discipline of doing the work and building a habit. How to build a habit? Here’s a simple framework:
With this, you will literally program your mind into doing the hard things and it will become exponentially easier each time you do it until it becomes effortless and enjoyable.
Remember as you start to walk out on the way, the way appears. The mentor will appear if the student is ready.
Good luck my friend.
Great advice. Thank you for putting the time to type all that. I will certainly Try these things 
Hi @coding4caledonia, I’m also doing the full stack course on here if you’d like to study buddy-up? Basically could just send each other what we’re working on or such along the way. Can sometimes be helpful to have someone to discuss things with/get inspired by/have a bit of healthy competition with (I’m currently a professional musician and exploring coding as a supplement to/change of my career, so I have a bit of experience in how to motivate myself to get things done on my own…!)
That would be great! I have been doing computing for the last 2 and half years.
Done a 2 year course part time at college which i done pretty great at i must admit… with full time job 2 kids being born during it… i honestly do not know how i done it
Always been into coding and i want to work in some capacity in the future as after 13 years in a warehouse for pretty much near minimum wage my back is near breaking 
Anyway yeah my mission is to get a job in programming and be able to afford a proper future for my boys.
So yeh it would be good to keep each other motivated.
Just going to say, this sort of interaction is awesome. 
Thank you! It is amazing how in programming that everyone wants to help each other 