Hey @coding4caledonia
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:
- Set an action ( I want to code )
- Do the action ( code )
- Reward yourself (go on a walk, drink coffee or tea, or do anything that makes you feel good)
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.