codecademy-group-focus-session

Block out distractions and join us for a Group Focus Session!

08/24/2020

Here at Codecademy, we’re not only passionate about teaching you how to code. We’re also passionate about giving you the tools you need to reach your coding goals! We know that sometimes it can be tough to stay motivated, which is why Lil from our Community Team hosts Group Focus Sessions twice a week.

Group Focus Sessions take place every week on Wednesday at 3pm EDT and Fridays at 1pm EDT. You can learn more and register to join upcoming sessions on the Codecademy Events page.

What is a Group Focus Session?

A Group Focus Session is an hour-long session on Zoom, with 45 minutes of uninterrupted focus time built in. Decide what you’d like to work on, find a quiet space to work and block out all possible distractions — phones, social media, and email notifications should all be shut off.

Lil has been running these sessions since October 2019 and she explains the benefits, plus her motivation for starting them:

“The main benefit is making progress toward your coding goals! Secondly, it’s a time and place to meet your fellow Codecademists. At the beginning of each session, we go around and say hi to the group stating our name, where we’re calling in from, and what we’ll be working on for the next 50 minutes.

“Group Focus Session is an accountability group, really. I started these after reading a lot about ‘Deep Work.’ I was inspired by Cave Day, too. I’ve only attended one Cave Day but I was really impressed with how much I could accomplish by cutting out distractions like email notifications, surrounding myself with others who are also focusing on their goals, and obviously, seeing the results at the end of the day.”

Who joins the Group Focus Sessions?

Group Focus Sessions will give you the opportunity to connect with other Codecademy learners from all over the world. We’ve had learners tune in from Australia, India, Italy, Nigeria, the UK, the United States, including California, New Mexico, New York, Colorado, Vermont, Florida, and more.

Lil says, “I really look forward to having facetime with our community members each week. It’s so great to meet our learners and see what they’re up to! I also look forward to hearing what our community members are working on each week. What’s excellent is that sometimes members in the group will be working on the same thing or just completed what another member is working on and they’ll be able to help each other.”

At Group Focus Sessions, you’ll also be able to connect with members of the Codecademy Team. Josh, a Senior Software Engineer,  tells us, “Consistent time during the day to focus in on work is really useful these days, especially since I’m constantly getting distracted by work messages and social media. It’s also great to talk with our learners and see what they’re working on. I appreciate knowing what’s going well or poorly for them because it helps inform where we need to improve Codecademy.”

Kenny, a Senior Curriculum Developer on the team, is also a regular at Lil’s Group Focus Sessions. He had the following to say:

“Joining these sessions has been really fun since they provide a concrete sense of who our learners are. At the beginning of our sessions we’re able to just chat as a group and talk through what we’re working on. At the end, we talk about our struggles and accomplishments. Luckily for me, a good chunk of our learners are doing web dev content (or some content that I’ve touched) and there are times that I can help out with a specific problem. So carving out this time that’s blocked from other meetings to do work and interact with learners is a win-win in my books.”

Nick, another Senior Curriculum Developer who regularly joins these sessions, tells us, “Lil’s community focus session is the most effective hour of my week: I’ve learned to timebox my work, received encouragement from peers, and met new learners.”

We hope you’ll join us!

Lil says, “The Group Focus Session is pretty special. In essence, we hold space for ourselves and each other to make progress towards our goals.” Find out more and join a future session here. We hope to see you there!

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