Mid-Week Update:
The challenge, to cut out all video games, tv shows, and social media for a single week. The goal, to force myself into programming even when I would rather sit on the couch while watching a tv show or playing a video game. Well, it has been a few days, and the results although lesser than what I had hoped for, are still positive. Before, diving into the results, I’d like to discuss some of the unforeseen difficulties, and how I coped to better fit my current situation.
Adapting to reality..
There were a few times, in the past couple of days, where I had to adapt my overall challenge to be more realistic. First off, I choose to make this challenge during the Thanksgiving break, which in hindsight was a poor decision. I found that choosing to isolate myself, over spending time with family was not worth it. Therefore, when family was around, I didn’t put in my headphones and go to work, instead I made that one of the exceptions. Exception one, if family is around then watching tv shows are okay.
Now, the results..
The main purpose of this challenge, as stated above, was to motivate myself into continuing my path with Android development. The primary method to continue my progress in Android development, finishing Udemy.com courses. I was able to finish a section of the course in the past few days, the topic of the section was integrating YouTube api to my app, and an overall introduction to the capability of utilizing api’s. I was also able to learn more about intents, interfaces for the View.OnClickListener, and apply those newly learned skills to my earlier apps. In this regard, I feel this challenge has been a success. Even though, I should have spent more time programming, I learned a fair amount. Also, I got some idea for what to continue doing, once the challenge ends.
Continuing what works..
Prior to this challenge, when I would be looking for something to do after school, I would turn to a video game or a tv show, even though I had enough energy to focus and put some time into programming. The problem, at some point in the past when I had all the motivation in the world, I was actually choosing programming over tv/games, but since then when the motivation has decreased, I’ve been choosing the opposite. Therefore, to be more consistent and constantly progressing at a rapid pace, I need to be utilizing my energy and focus better. This can be accomplished by turning on Udemy.com and finishing some of my course, immediately when I get back from school, and not waiting until it’s later in the evening and my focus has deteriorated.
Okay, that wraps up the mid-week update. I will finish this challenge on Wednesday the 30th, and end it with a final post about what has taken place over the past week. Thanks for reading.
