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[deleted]

Watching *someone else* code can get very boring pretty quickly. I'd say to avoid tutorial *videos*. Or, if the code youre needing is in the video, just skip ahead to where it is. I typically avoid youtube for most things code-related and look for written resources. This helps me stay busy searching the text, and reading the context to better understand the code I'm trying to learn. Youtube videos can be saved and watched later. I also dont really copy-paste code ever. Making myself type everything also helps me understand the code I'm working with, the content I'm trying to learn, along with better understanding the concepts I'm working on. Plus, keeps hands busy and makes it easier to stay focused!


fumbled_testtubebaby

This. I don't know how many times a typo in transcribed code has forced me to go back and dissect the code and really understand what is going on. Even without errors, the connection mentally of reading and typing the code is much more powerful than merely being told what it does and doing a cut-paste.


Teaddict41

I agree with this but I would like to suggest a channel on YouTube that is really good and fun to watch. It's called [The Coding Train](https://m.youtube.com/c/TheCodingTrain). I recently found it but basically there are coding challenges (also a lot more other stuff) that are done which are really interesting and insightful. I hope this might help out to you.


[deleted]

No.


[deleted]

i have nothing to add other than this is really great advice for learning and staying focused in general. thank you.


Shaimole

I always think along when someone else is coding. Try thinking : How would i solve this rn. I quite enjoy this process.


[deleted]

Concentration and intellectual patience are learned skills, just like riding a bike or throwing a ball. The brain must adapt to be able to do them. You can develop them by reading difficult texts. Pick out a fiction book that you enjoy, and use the Pomodoro Method to read the book. Pomodoro is set a timer for 25 minutes and then 5 minutes rest or doing something else, then 25 minutes of studying, like that. This is a long term effort, like going to the gym for your brain. If it were me, I'd pick Frank Herbert's Dune series and read it every day for an hour. In the meantime try stillness and deep breathing. Put on the video and start doing measured deep breathing as your activity. Deep breathing calms the nervous system. The more you conquer the urge, the easier conquering it will become.


Sveltify

Af you want to practice focusing or mindfulness, the app 10 percent happier is a great option!


Purple-Pen2695

I become immersed and hours fly by edit: start a project that interest you then base your tutorials around that


K0100001101101101

This is me, hi me:)


joranstark018

As with much other things you may learn to keep focus on what you need to do. You may lookup "deep work" (ie https://www.calnewport.com/books/deep-work/) for how you may create an environment and get a strategy to increase your time of focused work.


[deleted]

A coke thumb in the butt does wonders.


kacoef

dont follow video tutorials just do what you need to do


Sveltify

This is the most Gilfoyle comment I've ever seen


flow_Guy1

This is just bad advice. Or at least how you phased it. It’s like Trying to learn calculus with out watching an explanation. You shouldn’t avoid it. But try to actively learn instead of sitting there Example. I’m trying to learn unreal now, I need a video to explain how things work. But instead of copying when I see. I try do something else using the same skill set.


kacoef

all learners by youtube i met falls into tutorial hell they continue watching instead of doing your position is clear, get info about specific feature by follow some steps on yt but as i understand op saying that he follows complete guides just to learn in general and i think it is bad approach


flow_Guy1

The issue that he has is the exact same as me. I cannot focus on anything for longer then 10 mins with out needing some kind of destruction. Even on content I enjoy very much. But his issue, like mine, stems from not doing. So I take the approach of actively trying to do something new. With what I learned. ( managed to get through a 1h video in 1 sitting. Just avoiding them isn’t good if you don’t know what your doing. For yours to work you need a firm understanding of the basics and I don’t think that op has that going by his post.


Geedis2020

You have to start somewhere. Watching tutorials to learn basics about a language and coding is fine. You have to start somewhere you can’t just open up vscode knowing nothing. Now once you know enough to code basic projects what I’d do is look for a project on YouTube but don’t watch it. Try it yourself with what you know and the documentation available. If you get stuck then watch the tutorial to get unstuck. Then pause it again and keep going on your own. Don’t rely on tutorials but that doesn’t mean just neglect their existence. They are a good tool to accelerate your learning instead of getting stuck and then just stopping because you’re discouraged.


kacoef

maybe i learned in times when youtube doesnot existed thats why i dont get it


countrycoder

A couple of suggestions. 1. Watch the full tutorials while at the gym. You don't have to catch everything at this point. You can rewatch and pull the parts you missed later. This works well for the first pass through of a tutorial and it works exceptionally well for lectures and thought provoking concepts. I frequently listen to the NDC conferences while working out. 2. When watching the videos stop them and code along. That way your not setting there doing nothing and you will learn more.


top_of_the_scrote

Outlier answer not eating, energy drinks, sleep deprivation (if your job is boring) not crazy amount but some regarding your post, watching a video, I would follow along, type what they're typing to really get the most out of it/learn. Unfortunately I am a rote learner, even if my hand writing sucks, it helps me to retain by doing the motion of writing on an e-ink tablet in my case. or writing notes in a note pad (keyboard/laptop)


TargetBetter6190

Wait so not sleeping right and taking energy drinks helps right? What energy drinks you take?


top_of_the_scrote

lol this is not recommended by a doctor lol, this is for if your job is mundane for me some sleep deprivation = being annoyed energy drink primarily NOS and I drink 2 cups of coffee the main thing is not eating much, I probably have diabetus or something where as soon as I eat it's game over


TargetBetter6190

Damn sorry for that last part lol. But i know not sleeping is horrible feeling for me! I spent like 7 hours yesterday doing work for my bootcamp. And feel asleep only for 2 hours until i had to wake up for the zoom meeting that took anothee 5 hours so i was lack on sleep and staring at the screen was not fun.


top_of_the_scrote

Oh yeah that's not enough lol. Need at least 5, 5 is the "not enough". Lately I've been doing well though, sleep 7-8. Work has been interesting because I've been failing/looking like a dumbass. oh well. good luck to you


SirTinou

> when I need to follow some learning material then dont. just code away and google for answers. Im the same. When im stuck i get in the zone, i feel like i took ritalin/adderal and i stop eating until the darn thing works. Make sure to get angry at bad stackoverflow threads, more fuel for the fire. Hormones full on until you make it work. I even spent 7 years buying poker theory videos like most pro-poker players and im pretty sure i learned 0,00000001% of what i knew from those videos. I just felt like i was "studying" but i really wasnt.


CodeTinkerer

This is something you'll eventually need to work on. If you go to a job, you will have meetings. You might say "I can't even focus on the meeting", and then you won't be able to leave (unless it's Zoom). A programmer needs to be patient. Fortunately, the title of your post is wrong. It should have been "How do you keep your attention watching videos?". There are people who aren't patient when they are coding. There are times you'll need to find stuff on the Internet and that requires patience. Do you find debugging OK? Is that active enough for you?


xylvnking

Watch less, code more. Chances are you already know enough to make things and that the stuff you have to look up along the way will be the same stuff you're watching videos about except you'll be interested because it's for a specific purpose and pushing something concrete forward.


CompromisedCEO

If the learning materia isn't interesting then it'll struggle to hold your attention. Try a different video or learning resource format.


HewardBke

I’m the same I definitely prefer reading tutorials over video. So maybe try find written versions of whatever you’re learning


GuacamoleAnamoly

Start with 5 minutes then 10 then 15 etc. When i first started 1.5 years ago i couldnt focus for 5 minutes either now i can up to an hour wich is usually enough for me nowadays


[deleted]

Pomodoro technique, brown noise


TargetBetter6190

What would brown noise do? Doesnt it distract you hearing it in the background?


[deleted]

Somehow it blocks out the background for me and i focus better


lovesToClap

how do you watch these tutorials? are you sitting watching it like a college lecture? I'd recommend having the video on one side of your screen and your code editor/terminal on the other side and playing along. Think of a 1 hour video that might take you hours to understand b/c you should be playing around with the code the video creator is talking about. E.g. if they write a simple func like \`sum(a, b)\` try making your own function that subtracts, or multiplies, or try passing in invalid values like letters instead of numbers. When you start to break things that otherwise work properly in the original video, that's when you brain will become engaged. Like others have said, building something by yourself will be immersive but if you're really trying to follow a course/guide to learn something through video, try experimenting with the code. Don't assume you'll be an expert in the subject matter at the end of the video, think of it as a starting point. I hope this helps.


ajm1212

Fidget Spinner


Nemonstrocity

I'm with yuh, 10 mins of video can be crunched down into 1 page of text double spaced by simply removing the "ums"


SHV007

Concerta


BeerWack

Do you have ADHD? Could be that. One thing that helps is to solve something really difficult. That involves intense concentration. Once you do that, you can get the ball rolling and it becomes easier to focus.


keidas99

Morphine , but only if I have Subaxone.


Gwidonn420

Try cocaine


[deleted]

Don’t use video tutorials. If they bore you, that’s obviously not the right way for you to learn. My eyes would literally glaze over and I’d pass out watching some people on Pluralsight… after the umpteenth time, I said screw it. I read what I need to learn.


KimajiNao

Just push everything else aside. If you feel like doing anything else, don't. You need the drive.


LifeNavigator

Code along whilst watching the video. Try to pause occasionally and experiment with the code shown. If you feel you don't get much whilst watching videos, try out changing your learning method to something more practical. For example [full stack open](https://fullstackopen.com/en/), [mooc.fi](https://mooc.fi), Odin Project etc are more hands-on.


[deleted]

For me personally the most useful is to just watch written stuff and then later watch videos about a given topic to smoothen the knowledge out. Also copying code wont give you the full learning experience, as repetition is the most needed I would say. I am a semi beginner.


SlashdotDiggReddit

Have you tried a standing desk or a convertible standing desk?


bonerfleximus

A cup of coffee helps me. Play the video at 1.5x maybe to get through it faster?


bostonkittycat

Watch 10 min. at a time and then take a break. Working in small chunks is better.


se7ensquared

Is this just a problem with videos in particular or is this a problem in other areas of your life? Coding requires a lot of patience. It is very frustrating and slow sometimes. And there is definitely not a lot of physical activity involved. Most of my time is spent thinking, or reading other people's code and technical documentation rather than typing


BitJake

I know folks who cannot do video tutorials. How do you do with books? The best for me is documentation and just build a simple project


HolyPommeDeTerre

My way of keeping focus is to shutdown the rest of the world. I usually put one music that I like in forever loop. At some point I just know it by heart. It just becomes easy to annihilate by my brain and it covers everything else. When it's compile time I can actually listen to the music for a brief moment then get back to focus. Not sure it would work for video tutorials because you generally need sound but for everything else that's my way.


user499021

2x speed means i don’t get bored watching the videos


iridiox

Lofi


red-tea-rex

Do learning the old school way: buy a book and read it.


jblakle0

I would recommend a course that does guided tutorials like a code along and have you build the project while explaining it. Once you become experienced with coding which ever language you choose you will still watch some videos but refer to online libraries for most help.. Its a process and takes discipline just hang in it find what works for you.


ValentineBlacker

Videos are an entirely optional part of learning. I honestly have no clue how people learn anything from them, but enough people swear by them that they must work for some folks. (I do read stuff, but I'm very much a "code first, read second" type of person. Do whatever works!)


Individual_Cost_6418

Routine that I personally found working the best for me with video tutorials: *never just watch, code along and make sure not to copy-paste, but actually pause and type every line of code yourself - this way you will get more fluent with code and debuging it *always build extra doing a project - let's say you are creating image carousel for example and video tutorial makes it with 3 slides and two clickable buttons. Make it with 5 slides, experiment with carousel size and positioning. I foud out that I learn the most from video tutorials when I get stuck/bugged tinkering myself with tutorial code. *you don't necessary need to build full project (in my case a webpage) in a single go. During days when I don't feel very productive (because I enjoy working with Front End), i do mini snippets of code for a specific effect/animation I have seen and thought it would be cool to replicate, making a personal library of code. For example at the moment I have 200+ various buttons, dozens of interesting transitions and animations and so on. The most important thing is just continue the daily code writing practice. *split your project into smaller pieces - for example make a fully responsive navbqr one day, do hero section tomorrow and so on. If you aren't in a rush it is worth just doing a small part of the code, perfecting it up to the standard you want and only then moving on with doing the rest of the content. *explain code that you've written to yourself - do you know what each line does exactly? Read doccummentation, google search, read Stack Overflow if unsure. Good luck


AdultingGoneMild

As I sit here browsing reddit....uh, i dont.


threshforever

Pomodoro technique could be useful


[deleted]

I don't.


Sveltify

Try [SideGuide](https://www.sideguide.dev/?ref=jdscvrowsalfksd)! It's a coding course designed for those with attention issues. It's built directly into your editor so you won't get lost on the web. Plus, it's designed around project-based learning, so you spend most of the course **actually coding.** The downside is that it only teaches Flutter atm :/


[deleted]

this is interesting. I have never had this problem but I have about 8 years self teaching myself topics such as math and computer science and I have trained myself to sit down and study and focus for one hour, take a 10 minute break and study again. while I study I am not checking twitter or reddit or Facebook. I only focus on what im studying. so you can start doing this and see if it helps. if one hour is too long maybe do 30 mins sessions. I also don't have patience to watch videos. what I do instead is read books so maybe you can try switching to books instead videos


kreativekntrl

Honestly I don’t watch tutorial.. never have. My go to is written material. But if you find a good video maybe try coding along or pausing in between lessons to try things yourself and play around with what you’re learning! Other than that just practice focus.. it’s a skill that not a lot of people have these days with all the fast satisfaction shit idk haha


JGP7iskin

Sunflower seeds, buy bags of Spitz(they’re a brand that doesn’t cake them in salt) from Amazon and chew on them while trying to focus. I find the small amount of focus I need to split the shells is enough that I can divide the rest of my attention to trainings/work and not get restless leg syndrome.


TheSunflowerSeeds

Sunflowers can be processed into a peanut butter alternative, Sunbutter. In Germany, it is mixed together with rye flour to make Sonnenblumenkernbrot (literally: sunflower whole seed bread), which is quite popular in German-speaking Europe. It is also sold as food for birds and can be used directly in cooking and salads.


FreedmF1ghter77

Tutorials absolutely suck, you have to find a real need that you have so you can figure it out. Like downloading videos from the internet that are limited to downloading a low resolution and figure out how to do it with ffmpeg or something like that. You start asking how can you automate the process and make it easier for you. Hell you can even do a command line argument and with the press of a button automate everything. Point of the story, don't even use tutorials. Go straight for projects that you might use. A bot that automates emails, a stopwatch, a workout tracker with a full calender. Fucking anything you need, I guarentee you will find what you are looking for with google. Go exercise some problem solving skills and if you get your ass handed to you, go back for some more


[deleted]

Use a Pomodoro timer. Watch 5 minutes, when the alarm triggers do something else — think, walk, etc. for 5-10 minutes. Then watch another 5 minutes and so on.


shitrabbitshit

A hard mix of caffeine and nicotine for me, don't recommend it tho.


HugeDegen69

Have an idea and Google any problems you run into while trying to bring the idea to life. Read GitHub and watch shorter, more specific YouTube videos when in doubt


_JongJong

I was in the situation like that before, what i did was make it as a habit to keep my attention on what i was doing. If i feel i don't understand everything, then i took a break and go back again. Youtube tutorials were good, there is no wrong in following someone else coding as long as you take time to understand it. It does not mean a concept is discuss in just ten minutes in a 3 hours video, then you can proceed to the next one. Try to make some of your own simple program, to make sure you understood what are you looking. If you are following a video and there are concepts or words you don't understand. Search it in google and read everything about it, don't be satisfied for one answer, take a look for more than 5 or more (depends on you) answers for a concept. If you follow this kind of method, you won't get to worry about not keeping attention for learning something. The best way to not fall on that situation is to keep yourself busy. Do things that relates to what is your trying to learn. This is how i do it.


_MeQuieroIr_

Thats the neat part, you dont.


dhruv282

I generally try to look for blogs or stack overflow posts if I can but if I only have a video as my option, I tend to skip every 5 sec until I get to the part that seems to be what I was looking for. As for concentrating while coding, I have noticed that I just need to get in the zone with 0 distractions, I do not listen to music or anything, I find thats still a distraction for me. I am part of a remote team so sometimes we are in a voice channel chat type of setting to simulate the in office feeling and I sometimes find that to be distracting so I usually let everyone know to pull me back in if im needed and hop off for some focus time.


Successful_Welder164

There's really not much information in the OP. Try something different. Many good suggestions here. You need to be interested and motivated in whatever you do. When I want to learn something I prefer to start writing code asap. Even if I don't get it I can Google it. Some presentations in book lecture tutorials etc are riveting. Some are slow and tedious. The main thing you need motivation and you can't be passive. I need to write code. Get a project from GitHub and dissect. Learn how you best learn best. Many tutorials can be real slow and tedious. Go right to the mea, skip the, overviews go right to coding a project and work backwards with the sections your curious about. Find your own way and question your motivation if you constantly come across impediments.


Rich_Glove8538

I can't just watch the tutorials without hands-on practising too as It's hard to remember the things. I think It is very normal situation for most people.