Advice for Success at a Remote Coding Bootcamp
Tags: programming, computerscience, beginners
Published: 2023-08-09 19:51:05

Learning programming is not an easy thing to do. While it's rewarding to connect the dots and build your own programs, this milestone usually comes after several difficult learning curves and likely, many failures. In my last blog post before I graduate Flatiron, I wanted to elaborate on a few things and offer some advice that in my experience, might be helpful when facing challenges that come with learning to program at a coding bootcamp. Please keep in mind that these tips were written as general advice and the degree to which you heed this advice should be based on your own personal circumstances. 

## 1. Turn on your blue light filter

With a coding bootcamp, or any tech job that requires extended time in front of a screen, a blue light filter will mitigate the strain on your eyes. For a while, researchers have been studying the effects of prolonged blue light exposure and have found, among many things, that blue light can strain your eyes and have an effect on the quality of your sleep. So if you're going to spend a long time in front of a screen each day, you might consider changing the display settings on your machine. 
https://www.apollotechnical.com/best-practices-for-minimizing-blue-light-exposure-in-the-workplace/

## 2. Find the fine line between taking healthy breaks and procrastinating

You are going to be taking in large amounts of new information and concepts everyday, and often times they are complicated concepts and material. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of information coming in. Because of this you're going to want to take regular breaks where you can disconnect for a few moments and ground yourself. Finding that fine line of the right amount and length of breaks is important. You don't want to take a 45 minute break every hour, and you'll want to take more than a 5 minute break every 3 hours. Everyone is different, but defining a healthy break system where you can maintain productivity while also giving your mind enough time to rest is very important.  
https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/pomodoro-technique?Offer=abt_pubpro_AI-Insider

## 3.1. Go outside and move your body everyday if possible 
## 3.2. Consider investing in a stand up desk

If you're like me and a lot of your hobbies outside of work and school are sedentary hobbies, it can be easy to skip out on exercise and spend too much time cooped up inside on top of 8 hours a day of bootcamp. Science has clearly shown us that sitting around too much is really bad for our health. I definitely noticed negative effects on my mind and body on the days that I moved too little and stayed inside too much. Conversely, the days that I got outside and moved more helped when it came to studying. If you're able to learn well while standing, you might look into investing in a stand up desk so if your schedule doesn't allow for getting outside and moving as much as you'd like, at least you can burn a few more calories and remain a bit more active by standing while you're learning.  
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/the-dangers-of-sitting

## 4. Embrace a growth mindset

I'll never forget learning about the growth mindset from my bass teacher in college. The growth mindset is about not putting limits on yourself and believing in your ability to improve. It's really easy to get imposter syndrome while learning to code. You might start doubting your intelligence or your ability to succeed. But the fact is that with practice you can get better at anything. Some days you might only get 0.0001% better at coding by failing an algorithm 10 times in a row. But you're still getting better because you learned 10 ways of how not to solve that algorithm. 
https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means