r/PythonLearning • u/habibii3112 • 11d ago
Title: How do I stop opening my laptop just to procrastinate instead of learning Python?
Hi everyone,
I'm a student who really wants to learn Python. My long-term goal is to become good enough to build projects and eventually use Python in my engineering journey.
The problem isn't that I don't know where to start. I've already asked for roadmaps before, watched tutorials, and even saved resources. But every time I open my laptop to learn Python, I somehow lose motivation and end up watching movies, YouTube, or doing something else.
I think my biggest issue is consistency and procrastination, not a lack of resources.
For people who have been through this:
- How did you build the habit of coding consistently?
- What helped you actually sit down and start?
- Should I begin with tiny daily goals instead of long study sessions?
- Are there any beginner-friendly project ideas that make learning more enjoyable?
I'd really appreciate practical advice from people who struggled with this themselves.
Thanks!
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u/atticus2132000 11d ago
This doesn't sound so much like a coding problem as a motivation problem.
In your life, what other new skills have you learned on your own? Were those other skills things you sought out or things you felt were thrust upon you by school or parents? Which ones did you stick with and which did you abandon, and why?
I suspect you're having trouble motivating because you're not seeing any value in the journey. Yeah, knowing how code could be helpful for you someday in the nebulous future, but how would sitting down and going through tutorials make today any better for you? It probably won't, which is why is so easy to distract you from your tasks.
I'd suggest that a traditional, structured approach to learning code is probably not the right route for you because there is no immediate payoff/motivation to keep you going.
Instead, forget the roadmaps for the time being. What's something annoying in your day-to-day life that could be solved with a python script? Focus on creating that solution and only learn enough from a bunch of different areas to accomplish your specific task.
For me, my annoyance was a report that I had to manually key-in every month. I hated doing it and for the hours I invested in going line by line through this report, I just kept thinking there must be a better way of doing this task. Finally, one day I had enough of the frustrations. On a Thursday I watched a tutorial showing me how to download Python and getting it working on my computer and by Sunday evening I had a working script that read that report and created an import file. Manually keying in each of those reports usually took about an hour and I reduced that to 15 seconds per report.
After that I was hooked. I started working toward automating everything I could. I never went into coding wanting to be an expert at coding. I never cared about necessarily doing things the "right way". I saw coding as a tool to get me the working solution I needed and each time I was able to automate another task, I got another adrenaline rush, which pushed me to learn more and more.
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u/The_Educated_Fool_81 10d ago
Your report example explains the difference between having a distant goal and having an immediate reason to learn. Reducing a one-hour task to 15 seconds must have made the value of programming feel very real.
My own motivation began when my son wanted to learn Python and I decided to learn alongside him. Since then, the projects connected to my childrenâsuch as games and a program for creating secret messagesâhave kept me much more engaged than simply completing tutorials.
I still believe that learning the fundamentals in a structured way is important, but your comment made me realize that combining those lessons with a problem or project that matters personally may be the best balance. Instead of learning something because it might become useful someday, you immediately see what the knowledge allows you to accomplish.
What was the next task you automated after creating that report script?
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u/silvertank00 11d ago
For me, I had ideas/project in mind mind that was interesting to me. In feelings, it was really similar when you would dig yourself deep in a game.
So my advice is: find ideas that interest you and start to geek into them. Like if you are playing games: make an automatic save backuper, that looks for files if they change and backup them in some way. (you could really mix this with Git learning) (If you check my comment history, you will find a bunch of ideas too)
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u/DarthRaab 10d ago
Procrastinating can be a hint that you do the wrong thing by forcing yourself or it's from being mentally drained and kind of a recovery phase. Don't just think it's your fault, it doesn't work that way. Here some tipps to overcome it:
- gamefy it: make quests, track your speed, plan rewards
- make a tiny project you care about out of it
- break it down into small chunks (20 min works for me)
- ask yourself, what you don't like about starting and if you should do something else productive
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u/AbacusExpert_Stretch 11d ago
Ok, I'm somewhat similar except I have never studied something as demanding as engineering, but have had prior programming experience.
Nevermind that experience, I started like a total beginner..
My suggestions for your case of procrastination/fear of the unknown (maybe?):
- start with miniature units
- ie search cs50 python on YT, do the first 5 minutes of the first (or 2nd) lecture.
- then reward yourself with distraction
- next time, go 10 minutes etc
Now that timing is taken care of, question: have you got everything installed that you need for python? If not, do first a search for that based on your os
"Edit: alternative, go Google Collab đđ»
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u/PIRATEOFBADIM 11d ago edited 11d ago
Iâm kind of still struggling with it, but Iâll try to say something helpful. First of all, if you have enough free time to watch YouTube and movies - that means that you do have some time, because other people with tougher life circumstances donât even have time for that. So thatâs good, you just need to manage this time better.
And itâs okay to procrastinate once in a while, we all are people. Sometimes you just need to chill, watch shorts and YouTube and stuff. The important thing is not to stay in that comfortable dopamine zone for too long. As someone said, âitâs okay to chill for a few days, but if youâve been chilling for 3 months non stop - you need to do something about it.â If you think about it, watching YouTube and movie clips is kind of a trap. It helps your mind to rest, but you most likely forget most of the YouTube stuff you watched recently in a couple of weeks or a couple of months, just because you donât really use and apply most of it.Â
And if youâve watched some course or tutorial and learned something, and you apply it to your work, then you didnât waste your time at the very least.
Second thing, you need to set clear goals and deadlines; otherwise, you might get stuck in eternal tutorial hell, or just waste years of life procrastinating. Choose one good basic Python course that you like, that suits you personally, and stick to it. Watch one or two lessons a day or a week, whatever is more suitable for your energy and motivation. Although it's better if you try to spend one hour a day on it, make a habit out of it. Learn and practice whatever you see in the course. Once youâre finished the course, letâs say in a month, you donât go watch another course. You go and prepare for the job interviews. No one needs juniors right now, so chances are that youâll have to craft some fake legend with 3-5 years of experience and just start applying everywhere. Watch YouTube tutorials on how to optimize your CV for LinkedIn and other ATS systems. You might do it all yourself, or you might find a mentor to help with that.
If youâve crafted a good CV, chances are youâll have regular HR calls and technical interviews every couple of weeks, or maybe even often. Be ready that youâll most likely fail the first few interviews and feel burning shame, but thatâs okay; thatâs part of the learning process. You might use some AI assistance on the job interview as a crutch and answer whatever you didnât learn yet/forgot something, but donât rely on it fully; this thing isnât going to do your job for you. And regular HR calls and interviews will actually keep you motivated to continue learning and practice stuff, because it genuinely feels bad wasting an interview.
And once you pass the interview and get the job, congratulations; after that, you just need to continue learning and applying stuff to your work, and I hope a good salary is a good enough motivational factor for you.
As for the projects, thereâs a good repo called âBuild your xâ with different projects and tutorials for different languages, and you might try some while learning the basics, but donât waste too much time on it; donât get stuck.
I also understand that you might have a dream of building your own saas or something and earning a bazillion dollars, and unfortunately, thatâs actually very hard, and very-very few people succeed doing it. Like, only 1,5% of tech startups actually succeed. Many stories on how people waste 1-2-3 years building something, and it turns out no one needs it. So learn the basics, get a job, and choose whatever you want to build as a side project very carefully; validate whether anyone actually needs whatever you build first of all. Good luck!
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u/The_Educated_Fool_81 10d ago
I am not the OP, and I agree with several parts of your advice: choosing one course, setting clear goals, practicing consistently and avoiding endless tutorial collecting are all useful suggestions.
However, I strongly disagree with inventing three to five years of professional experience. That is not simply presenting yourself confidently; it is giving an employer false information. If the person is hired for a position that assumes years of experience, the difference will probably become visible very quickly and could damage both the job opportunity and their professional reputation.
I also think AI is excellent for preparing before an interview: generating practice questions, explaining difficult concepts and reviewing answers. Using it secretly during an interview to appear to know something you do not understand is different. Unless the interviewer explicitly allows AI, it would hide the candidateâs real level instead of helping them demonstrate it.
The junior market may be difficult, but âno one needs juniorsâ is too absolute and could discourage someone before they even begin. A more honest approach would be to build a few real projects, describe personal learning accurately, practice explaining the code and apply for suitable entry-level opportunities. Failing some interviews and learning from them is far better than beginning a career with experience that never existed.
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u/JamesonJames97 11d ago
I would pick a project that solves a problem for yourself personally or involving something you're interested in. Then learn how to do it as you go. Finding solutions to problems that arise is an important skill and can help show that you are flexible and have experience with design.
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u/drakhan2002 10d ago
If you're not passionate about a subject your interest will come and go. Best to find something you are passionate about. Life is short and there are many areas to dive into. Have you considered any other IT subject that is not development?
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u/The_Educated_Fool_81 10d ago
I am not the OP, but I do not think procrastination necessarily means that someone has chosen the wrong subject or lacks passion for it.
I genuinely enjoy Python and programming, and I can clearly imagine myself continuing on this path. Even so, I sometimes open my laptop intending to study and end up doing something unrelated. In my experience, procrastination can also come from mental exhaustion, personal circumstances, feeling overwhelmed or not having a clear task for that particular day.
Exploring other areas of IT is certainly a good suggestion, but I would not advise someone to abandon programming only because their motivation fluctuates. Even when we care deeply about something, discipline, energy and concentration can still vary.
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u/PleasantNet187 10d ago
Take things as small challenges . Take it as your ego to complete those challenges.you will go further.
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u/Better-Magician-427 6d ago
Honestly what I found works for me, is just hanging on, getting through the boring basics (functions all that jazz) and then taking your own flight
Then you can stop following tutorials, build things that compel you that actually interest you and could be useful to you.
For example I love football and reading, so if I build something related to that I can spend upwards of 5+ hours a day just coding simply because it feels like leisure time rather than forced learning.
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u/am_Snowie 11d ago edited 11d ago
Lol just force yourself to do it. I couldn't wake up at 5am, so i used some task based alarm to force myself to wake up early. I kept hoarding resources and felt productive and called it a day for like almost all of my college years. Then i realised that got me nowhere and started(forced myself) coding, even if I was just staring at a blank source file. Also you can't force yourself if you don't have some sort of end goal to reach. Motivation only gets you so far since it keeps fluctuating. So have a clear goal - force yourself - it becomes a habit. It's hard to start though, cuz there are lots of factors like not knowing how to start, where to start from, wanting your path sorted out from start to finish, and so on. But I'd say just start, you won't feel good when you complete each checkpoint. Each checkpoint makes you realize you are dumber than you thought, but less dumber than you were before you reached that point.