I was about to skip blogging for Week 4 because it feels like I don’t have any updates.
My mental health was in shambles. I did the bare minimum when it came to my #100Devs work, and I was definitely not connecting with anyone.
One thing though: I do want to talk about mental health. I want to normalize talking about it because I know that I’m not the only one that goes through periods where everything just feels like shit and it feels like nothing is going right.
But I got it into my head that I need this blog post to be organized, have some clear topic points and maybe some nice graphics to go along with it. And that discouraged me from even starting this blog post at all.
Mental health is rarely clear or organized. As my friend Debby said “It’s real. Expression doesn’t always have to be long or thorough or complete. It just is.”
Get you a friend like Debby, because she is absolutely right.
To me, having a bad mental health day (or week, or year) is oversleeping, not having the energy to do anything, let alone study. It’s a time where my thoughts are harshest on me and imposter syndrome can just walk into my thoughts and make itself at home.
It’s a time where the negative can easily overshadow the positive. And there were some positives! This past week, I passed a class that make me closer to getting my degree!
I willed myself to check in and watch Leon’s streams lives, but on both days I felt myself mentally check out early. On Friday, I watched Independence Day. And that’s it.
I know that there might be some life lesson that I can connect with Leon’s message of “I’m a baddie that writes bad code” but I’m going to leave that for another day.
For now, I’m going to drink some soothing tea, repeat some positive affirmations, and be nice to myself. Maybe I’ll watch Independence Day again. Maybe.
Long story short: I felt like shit. Take care of yourself y’all.
Today marks the end of another week of #100Devs. It feels like it’s been more than a week because it’s been jam-packed with things to do.
It’s been a challenge to balance #100Devs, schoolwork, and also take care of my mental health. I would like to give kudos to everyone who is going through #100Devs and also juggling a job(s), schoolwork, parenthood, caregiver-hood, or any combination of the above. This is a lot of work.
Adjusted workflow
It’s been a few weeks now, but I feel like if I don’t follow my workflow, I would not be doing half the things that I’ve done so far. When I first started, I wanted to make sure I’m not adding any redundant steps because my brain would start wanting to avoid doing any task if I had to record it multiple times.
What is working for me:
Plan my week using Notion
Check in with myself in the morning using Goodnotes
Track #100Devs assignments with Notion
Track my overall progress with #100DaysOfCode in Notion.
My creative outlet project this week was learning how to create repeating patterns on Procreate. I followed this youtube video because it was so easy to follow.
I redid my GoodNotes templates with a new background I created and went ALL OUT for my February theme. But that’s ok- it’ll only be for 28 days and I think it looks cute.
#100Devs and #100DaysOfCode
I debated on whether or not to start #100DaysOfCode because one of the things Leon stresses all the time is to not take on too much during this time. That will put you on the fast track to burn out and I am determined to finish this and get a software development job.
But #100DaysOfCode doesn’t have a curriculum. It’s just a way to document what you are learning while you code for at least an hour a day for the next 100 days. I’m going to use it as a way to go deep into the topics that Leon is teaching us but make sure I don’t go wide. I’m not going to try and learn it all in 30 weeks and set myself up for failure.
I shared the Notion table that I created to keep track of all the #100Devs assignments and was happily surprised that so many people found it helpful. It’s one of those things that I mentally underplayed to myself and, as a result, didn’t even think about sharing it. But I’m happy that I ended up sharing it because of all the positive feedback I’ve received from it.
If you want to duplicate the template to your Notion notebook, you can find the template here.
Going deep, not wide
For days 1, 2, and 3 of #100DaysOfCode, I’ve been focusing on practicing my knowledge of HTML and CSS.
Part of the homework is to read Shay Howe’s Learn to Code Advanced HTML & CSS. While his website is a fountain of knowledge, reading is not the most efficient way that I personally learn.
I’m trying to go through the articles and get a basic overview of the topics and keywords he talks about, but then I looked for different resources where I can practice for free.
For CSS selectors, CSS Diner was making its rounds in different Discord channels. And I absolutely love it! I haven’t finished all the levels, but I’m making it a goal to finish it whenever I can in the next few days. Essentially, you have to type the CSS selector for the item(s) bouncing on the screen.
Another cool resource for me is frontendmentor.io. It’s full of challenges that you can start to practice your code. You can’t peek at the solution until you’ve submitted your own code, so it really pushes you to find your own solution. You can filter the challenges from Newbie to Guru and also select what languages you want to use.
I started with a Newbie challenge that only used HTML & CSS. It was a fun exercise trying to center the QR code card and make it responsive to different screen sizes. I learned about viewport units and how they are responsive to the size of the screen, but they’re not exactly like percentage units.
If you want to check out my submission, click here. Any feedback or suggestions is welcome!
What’s next:
My plans for the next week include:
finish Shay’s articles
incorporate Anki cards and revision into my life a little bit more
keep the consistency in working on my code
find a way to get more exercise in my routine. I’ve been pushing this back, but I know it’s important when it comes to mental and overall health. I’m thinking of picking up some yoga at home. How you get your workout in?
the bold dev 