staying-accountable-coding-goals

5 Ways to Stay Accountable to Your Learning Goals in 2024

12/18/2023
4 minutes

Planning to learn to code in 2024? We know it can feel overwhelming — especially if you’ve never coded before. But you’ve got this! And we’ve put together a list of five tips and resources to help you stay accountable to your coding goals this year.

Set bite-sized, achievable goals

Setting a big, lofty goal can be exciting in the moment, but can sometimes feel so overwhelming that it’s easy to just give up. That’s why we recommend starting small. If you’re not a runner, resolving to start running one morning a week for 20 minutes may feel less overwhelming than resolving to run a marathon. The same goes for learning to code.

Set bite-sized, achievable goals for yourself in 2024. This’ll ensure that you don’t get overwhelmed. Give yourself the opportunity to get your feet wet, make learning to code a part of your regular routine, and let the smaller goals be the catalyst for something even bigger.

Learn something new for free

In 2021, Codecademy community member Scott discovered that he really enjoys the data visualization aspect of data science, and so he created a heat map visualizing positive Covid-19 cases in Colorado. That’s one of the great parts about learning to code — it can help you better understand your world and the moment of time you’re in.

Not sure what goals to set for this year? Check out our list of 30 bite-sized goals for learning to code in 2024.

Make your goals and progress public

Let the world know what you plan to do — and how you’re progressing towards your goals. When you tell others what you plan to accomplish it makes it harder to give up. Tell your friends, tell your family, or even share your goals on social media, like Afzaa Atcha, a teacher turned DevOps Engineer Apprentice. (Don’t forget to tag Codecademy in your posts about learning to code — we love to connect with our learners on social media and get a glimpse of your coding projects.)

You may also decide to record your progress along the way in a blog. This can be a fun way to look back on your journey later to see how far you’ve come — plus, logging your own experiences may be useful to other people who are on learning journeys of their own!

Set weekly targets

You’ll find weekly targets when you log into your Codecademy account and click on “My Home.” Your progress will appear in the top right corner of the screen and you can click to update your weekly target. Decide how many days you want to learn each week and then track your progress.

We’ll keep track of how many days you’ve logged into Codecademy to learn in the current week. Plus, we’ll show you how many weeks in a row you’ve met your target.

Take the #100DaysofCode challenge

If you’re up for a bit of a bigger goal, start a #100DaysofCode challenge! Dedicating at least an hour to code daily for 100 days can help you turn learning to code into a habit that’ll continue even after the 100 days are over. Then, you can share your accomplishments (and read through others’) on X, formerly known as Twitter, like the learners below.

Or, you can share your accomplishments on our forum, where you’ll also find other learners sharing their experiences with the challenge.

Join a community

Speaking of the Codecademy community, being a part of a community is a great way to stay accountable to your goals. Share your progress, ask questions when you’re stuck, get inspired by the stories of other learners, and make new friends that share your motivations and interests.

Looking for a community? Here are a few places to get started:

  • Codecademy Forums: Join the conversation right here in the Codecademy Forums. Chat with other learners, share projects and get feedback, get help, get inspired by success stories, and more!
  • Codecademy Chapters: Codecademy Chapters are community-led local groups designed to help you stay motivated, get support on your learning journey, and connect with other learners near you, in-person or virtually. Join a chapter in your local area — or start your own!
  • X, formerly known as Twitter: Join the conversation and meet other people that are learning to code on Twitter with hashtags like #100DaysOfCode and #CodeNewbie. (You can find us on Twitter at @Codecademy.)

Looking for more advice for sticking with your coding goals? We’ve compiled a list of 7 tips for staying motivated from our community members. Here’s to accomplishing all of your goals and more in 2024!

This blog was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated with relevant resources and new advice.

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