Dealing with Stress and Anxiety When Learning to Code

[@AndySterkowitz]

For those of you dealing with stress and anxiety, what has helped you overcome those obstacles?

[@turdmcgurd]

Andy Sterkowitz hit the gym every morning

[@zerointhree]

The only thing that stresses me out are finances. If my finances are hurting, I can't focus on anything else.

[@TheCrusaderRabbits]

I walk. 75 mins per day. It helps.

[@sandorszekeres7912]

Starcraft + Judo :)

[@Quickb3n]

I occasionally use a journal app to put my issues into writing, helps to get them out of my thought circulation so i can focus on what you need to.

[@MrPanzerDragoon]

First! But to handle stress.... - Don't compare yourself to others. You are who you are. You are great at what you do. Pace yourself and add successes incrementally. - I have a specific routine every day. 3/4 of a cup of coffee in the morning with no sugar or cream or 3/4 cups of tea. - Classical music only from morning to late afternoon. I can not listen to my own voice in my head with vocal music. - I stop work at 5PM, but I try to start my day at 7AM. Sleep at 9 or 10PM.

[@solomonleo3025]

Great, this is also an awesome routine

[@ronnielarson1033]

Exercising seems to be the greatest stress reliever for me!

[@O0O0oo0oO0o0o0o0oO0]

Less youtube and more finishing projects. Only way to drop stress.

[@NonchalanceNV]

I am currently enrolled in an SEI Bootcamp, and I feel overwhelmed and depressed. I feel everyone in the class understands the material, but mentally I am going at a snail's pace. I'm worried I won't ever grasp the material. This video helped put things into perspective. Thank you.

[@rantbb6675]

Hi. If you don’t mind me asking how was the whole process? Did you ever feel true progress?

[@Kristmaz808]

If you're stressed and have any anxiety while coding for any reason fail just fail and realize it's not the end of the world if you do.... Coding should be relaxation if you can't figure something out either search out someone for help or keep reading and searching until u figure it out believe me it can take up to four years to figure something out if you don't have the right question you don't know what u don't know and that's the beauty of coding... I'll tell you high level thinkers with imagination and the enjoyment of learning makes individuals great coders

[@hassanfarah3501]

U deserve a standing ovation Miss👏👏👏

[@11am]

Thanks you're awesome

[@mohapimatle7734]

When it comes to dealing with my stress and anxiety, I always try to find someone who is close to me to talk about it. Someone that isn't in the same situation, so that they don't judge me but rather support me and is willing to listen to me. Good topic by the way Andy. God Bless You.

[@AndySterkowitz]

This is a great strategy as well. I have a very good support network (friends and family) who are there when times are tough. It would be very hard without them. Cheers!

[@borbecue]

Biggest help for me is to take breaks when I need them, and do something physical to take my mind completely out of the equation. Could be working out, could be a walk, could be playing basketball - just something that gets you moving and puts your mind on autopilot for a bit.

[@ayyubayyyub9415]

What about praying to Almighty Allah, try that one.

[@mathiasrjacobsen]

Found out that breathing exercises and a daily walk would help on my stress levels

[@ToDaXi]

Interesting timing, yesterday I had very dark thoughts coming in and was stressed out, what I did was take 90 minutes run and when I came back, my body was exhausted, but my mind was sharpened and I immidiately appreciated the process again.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Nice! Yeah I have found that when my mind is running I need to go release some of that nervous/anxious energy by a nice intense workout. It can do wonders. Thanks for sharing Tomas.

[@olganova3058]

I really love this attitude. Neglecting your limits is the best way to experience burnout and quit. Taking care of yourself is gold, especially when you are achieving your top goals. Thank you for this message!

[@AndySterkowitz]

So true...self care has to be a priority. Cheers!

[@Quickb3n]

Dealing with this right now, it's hard for me not to give myself unrealistic expectations of how quickly I pick new concepts up. Very helpful video my man.

[@ssslin_is_me]

first tech guy I've watched who respects emotional signals so well.

[@jelaineyluma4664]

Got fed up with something I was working on and then found this video to talk myself down. Thank you! 🥰

[@NeoNinjaX87]

Excellent advice man. This came at the right time.. Trying to become a self taught developer while working 50+ hours a week and being a father of 2. I'm way too hard on myself. Im on week three of my journey, and I'm constantly comparing myself to others thinking "Man I should be further along in this..." And getting really frustrated... I just gotta remember to monitor my emotions and keep them in check, and relaize that even if I learn how to right one line of code successfully then that is progress.. Thanks for this video Andy.

[@Jerminator1984]

Wow, you spoke to the perfectionist in me! Dually noted on allowing things to be incremental.

[@justins7796]

awesome video. it feels like an ego defeat when i have to walk away and i think that internal battle is what's hardest. walking away ironically sparks the fire that's usually growing inside me, even though it's the right thing to be doing in that moment

[@em4rtzz]

Learning C gave me a ton of stress while also working full time, but I will tell ya the endorphin rush I'd get when I got a program to compile perfectly is absolutely amazing. That was a university class I took. Now I'm doing 2 courses in Linux and LAN/WAN technologies. I haven't been doing any C lately but I have been trying to learn python off Udemy and with the 1500 page Oreily book.. hopefully I can get somewhere with it!

[@RackaApps]

Thanks for this. I'm just learning about programing and everytime i look at a piece of code someone wrote for an app my brain goes "How will i ever be able to do that?" And i feel overwhelmed.

[@mitty4790]

Same :(

[@chrisharvey7461]

if you measure you day by productivity and feel like you adding nothing to your goals it can be migraine inducing stressful, but if you consider days of no productivity as a day of recharge, the good days will be twice as productive, its a shame our brains can only run a certain distance...my advice is to not only walk away but go for a long drive in the sticks, or a good hike...it will clear your mind and you will be able to see the big picture again, either that or clean your house

[@augustoliver351]

Thanks for reminding me to use The pomodoro technique. It really makes a difference.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Definitely. Breaks are so important. If I don't have a timer to tell me to stop I will just continue to sit there until my brain is mush.

[@MichaelWilson-gq8ud]

I definitely get the overwhelming feeling of negative thoughts just about everyday at some point. I'm working on my associates at the moment and trying to get an internship for some type of programming. I really do like your videos, they help me see programming differently because I feel like I'm teaching myself as well. I quit making unrealistic goals a few months ago and made a plan to slow down and understand the basics of programming even though I'm graduating this Fall.

[@elcogarcia6164]

Hey Andy. Love your videos and they have helped me on my way to learn to code! I'm starting a coding boot camp soon and this video(along with your others) will definitely be a valuable resource for me while at the camp.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Awesome to hear! Good luck Elco!

[@elcogarcia6164]

Andy Sterkowitz thank you!

[@darktealglasses]

I really like listening to your advice. I didn't do CS in my undergraduate. But I'm trying to learn programming by myself and I'm thinking about becoming a programmer. I wanted to become a teacher but after learning Java, I became interested in this. It's because it was frustrating for beginners to learn but I got a good grade in the end. I also took a Python course as a free elective from another department as my department doesn't offer it. But I'm not sure if this career suits me.

[@mrnobody1909]

I am a graduating stress student. And... Right now even it's my vaccation, i need to spend my time doing my Thesis Project(big project i have). Earlier i cried because of too much stress and overthink. That's why i'm here looking for some motivation.. They said that every problem has a solution.. Amen! I will comeback on this msg once i surpass this sem. Wish me luck guys!

[@nikhilpanwar3126]

You got it brother, you'll do well for sure 🌟

[@backtoGodhead0]

Pretty neat Andy quite informative and helpful! May God bless you.

[@sebastienberger2890]

Thanks Andy for your advice. I'm currently an IT technician who do everything and nothing at the same times. I know the basics of coding and I use PowerShell in my day to day job (I use it more like how I would use Python). I would to change to more programming career. Still not sure if I will go to a devOps style route or to more traditional development path. The rest of my team are all .Net programmer and I would like to start using c# and do some application for the job. I got a few idea of things that I could do, but I have hard time to break through the where I'm as comfortable using c# than I'm using PowerShell for scripting. Anyway all that to say that you have inspired me. I had to throw to the side the project for a certain amount of time because I had to learn something else(VoIP) for the Job, but since I have started watching your channel I have started to study 2-3 times a week. To make it better I even got the approval from my manage to take 1 day a week for learning even if I still have plenty of stuff to do.

[@kayladornan5918]

This video is what I needed , I’ve been trying to perfect everything & it’s started to make me feel like I won’t be a good enough coder because I have no idea what’s going on - you can really feel that anxiety

[@TheMrVersetti]

Hi Andy! Thank you for your videos. I have a couple of questions: So you advice rest from programming when it’s need, when you tired, sleep enough and etc. but for example me, I’m working 5-6 days a week about 10 hours, I’m tired after work all the time, and I sit to learn programming after job. If I will be rest all the time when I want, I literally will be learning programming forever (!) because already after 20-30 minutes focusing on learning I feel all the symptoms of fatigue that you told in your video. You know it’s funny, I talked with one pathologist, and he told me that we need work 8 hours, sleep 8 hours and the rest of 8 hours enjoy our life (enjoy it means so hobbies and rest), I think that’s impossible in modern world because then more demand and well paid job you have, then more stress we have, competition in every spheres increase year after year, especially in programming technology’s growing up and develop very fast, all of this thinks add much more pressure in life, so how is it possible to rest when you want if when you rest somebody can overcome you.

[@AdilAli-Coder]

Hi Andy, I am beginner and I feel so frustrated because I took a course with Udemy (Bootcamp Full stack developer) and am about to finish the course and still feel empty no deep knowledge. I studied everything about database design and moved to frontend(HTML, CSS, BOOTSTRAP, JAVASCRIPT) and backend(NODEJS, MONGOOSE, MONGO DB , SQL DB ) development .My friend asked me to build for him simple website (profile) where he can upload his projects and his achievements along with his CV , I found it very challenging to get an idea about how it should be look like and also css and bootstrap some how are very challenging. I am overwhelmed by the huge amount of knowledge I gained within the last 3 months. I feel like lost and the reason why I took this course because I wanted to build an E-commerce cite or join the Elite Club of programmers and have very prestigious job may be 120K salary will erase every struggle I am having now.

[@chiomaukoha7333]

What helped me personally is asking for help from someone else. I’ve felt this way aloooot. But when I watched someone else do the task in my presence or explain it to me “in-person”, it’s gonna be less overwhelming

[@bjarkejulius1236]

I get an idea and tell myself "I have to make it." So then I stress myself out too much and get dizzy from the anxiety. The stimulants one helped me realize I need to cut back on what I tell myself "I need to do." that thing I tell myself "I have to do this," just makes me unable to monitor my emotions. Unless I start correcting it

[@banhmihung]

Thank you, I have experienced a great loss mentally and in my family, which has made my coding progress come to a halt. But, this video has helped me with the thought processes. Def Subbed

[@KosmicAura]

Phenomenal advice. Thanks for this.

[@TheRealCasadaro]

Nuggets of gold here. Thanks team.

[@jonathanvargasv2009]

Thanks, you cannot imagine how useful it has been for me

[@adamjoseph1970]

I actually find that sitting down and doing the work relieves me of my anxiety because I know that ultimately it will one day pay off and end my current state of financial stresses (which is the root cause of my anxiety). Also, how do you find your intro/outro music? It's on fire!! :-)

[@cod-newbie9166]

Thanks for this content, just what I needed.

[@Sweetcookies0704]

This really helped I’m trying not to beat myself up when I take breaks from my classes but this made me feel like I’m not alone and now I’m trying to get myself back to coding.

[@spiral272]

Great video as always and one that clearly speaks from experience. As a student in your course I can identify with everything you say. I'm glad to have a mentor like you that can save both my time AND my sanity. :-) Keep fighting the good fight.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Yes! It's one of the most overlooked aspects...dealing with the stress that comes with learning this with a full plate. Cheers Trevor!

[@rodwinpieterse1950]

Crazy thing for me is the closer I get to becoming the developer I want to be the more stressed and anxious I am.

[@lucky6672]

Samee

[@linacomet]

I can relate so much to all the info that you give us in this video. Thank you for sharing it with us! :)

[@AndySterkowitz]

Great to hear Lina!!

[@latoyalegemah787]

Thank you so much for this view. I thought I was weird for getting stressed about development. Great tips!

[@romanglinnik8073]

Making a detailed Plan/Schedule helps me overcome stress/motivation problems. If I havw a plan I am quite excited to work on a problem. But making a plan is allways recommended. I have the routine to make me a cup of coffee or what ever. Listen to some music.

[@mrnobody1909]

I will take this advice to become less emotion, stress and loss of interest on what i'm doing right now. Thankyou so much mate!

[@godiloverock]

Deffinitely taking breaks. do something active, maybe cook a meal to energize and exercise with the prep. sitting all day can kill your butt and back, moving around helps! thanks for the video. nice to hear others perspective.

[@adriancelis9691]

Good vid. Im already stressed at the moment and this is perfect

[@fitfatbrittrny]

Andy you have no idea how helpful this is and I really needed this video!

[@nitinmadan4009]

I am learning SQL and python right now. These tips are equally valuable for me. Cheers!

[@jakevikoren]

Great advice, thanks Andy!

[@BackeB]

Awesome tips on this channel! Thank you 🙏

[@mattiusbattol]

awesome video. This really has helped me remember to strike a balance between work and play

[@chaii_latte]

I'm 32 female. Self study plus working on CS degree. Burnoutbis strong. I have no kids or any family. Living with a toxic roomate, but no family to fall back on for housing. so financial stability is a huge stressor. ... Its scary because what if I just cannot get a job in this? Its intimidating af.

[@MrJfergs]

How are you holding up

[@Donbros]

I feel so stresful doing internship at company I almost want to rage quick, but not sure if its good call :( not getting paid and working all days and also being stuck on task. I am also perfectionist and I bash myself if I do something wrong And how can I step away if there is deadlines . Deadlines fight with taking times off

[@ikemkrueger]

3:08 I have that emotions beforehand. Before I do a task. And it is really hard for me, to push them away/resolve them. Tips would be appreciated.

[@eilis5341]

yeh i just switched to decaf cause i realised that coffee was the reason i felt so anxious all the time. Heart rate up, chest uncomfortable and nervous, thoughts too busy, no focus. love the taste of coffee but decaf is fine

[@shinigami2669]

I was motovated before lockdown but after the lockdown, i got no motivation in learning coding. My time in university is going to end now. still i am unable to achieve anything. But thanks for the video.

[@MinhHans]

Thanks you so much. Cafein too much can more tress.

[@urahara264]

Learning to code is better when you: 1/start building project on your own. 2/Using the knowledge you got after several articles and tutorials maybe is the best thing you need to do to measure your improvement. 3/@lso following this path could help you to understand when you're struggling the most and comprehend your mistakes. 4/Sharing your work with the community is also very helpful to evolve and interact with professional whom able to give you useful advice to make you a better coder. 5/using a tasks manager to prioritize your activities and to avoid procrastination. 6/learning fundamentals like data structures and algorithms. 7/teaching beginner learners to maintain you're understanding and talkative ability with the community. 8/bookmark your favorite resources. By the way, I'm just interested and practicing coding as a newbie so I'm just sharing with you the tips that could be useful for all. Good luck everyone.

[@kentvo]

Finally someone who understands lol. Appreciate ur videos!

[@assadhashmi5275]

For me the stress is coming from not being able to understand: 1- How to write the code. (I keep forgetting the loops, which loop to use, how to use it, the length, range or the list itself) 2- Algorithms and how to convert the algorithm into a code. (the algorithms confuse the heck out of me at first and then second how do I convert the algorithm into code. It's almost like my brain just stops wanting to do anything.) Based on the suggestion that I need to step away from the desk as soon as the stress or anxiety or the negativity hits, I feel I won't be able to learn anything as that shit gets to me right away. Anyway, I just came out of a class of algorithms feeling extremely stressed, helpless, frustrated and depressed. Sorry about this negativity. :( I really didn't know where to share this or who to share it with. It's like after going thru these I feel so dumb I can't even begin to express the frustration.

[@octavianhagihagi4148]

hey boss I have a hard time starting to code because of the stress and anxiety. Any tips? Just do it?

[@harrylegrand1339]

Coding helps me focus on something other than anxiety which helps a lot.

[@Shiroyashasama]

I’m doing a data structure hw rn and I’m just feeling horrible cuz I’m so confused and there’s nothing to help.

[@itsjes3d]

Thank you, this was helpful !

[@universalgenius4661]

I constantly think about what's going on, because if I don't, I guess I'd even forget about what might be going on.

[@chaii_latte]

I'm worried about job security. Is it really likely I'll find a job, or have a career? Or are the gatekeepers and interviews just too much?

[@Gusariful]

Thank you for this video... It definitely helped my insecurity about coding right now

[@rollinOnCode]

what do you do when you CONSTANTLY feel negative depressing emotion when working? but you have to get the stuff done?

[@sarasyntax]

This was all i need right now

[@oskari3659]

Started watching your vids while ago. Then I quit because "this guy just talks and doesn't teach me actual coding" Now I'm back again, totally overworked on my school project and frustrated with my group members. I should had listened to you in a first place

[@SumitSharma-jv5lw]

Awesome advise 👍, comes only with experience which definitely u have , keep going

[@TheRoddie16]

my chest hurts....i cant sleep...and it never feels like im doing enough. The bills are coming in and I need to land a web dev job.

[@FaLkraydz]

Hey Andy, can you suggest a couple of dev books to ready after Head First JS?

[@nepzar298]

Thanks man for useful advice

[@capedcrusader6273]

I really wanna develop my logical mind but this feeling that I am not as good as others bug me.. I have always been a pretty average student all my life though I used to work really hard and studied for 10 12 hours during school days, still didn't get desired results.. was severely bullied and now I am here a low on confidence 3rd yr student. It ain't like I don't understand the logic, I do but while implementing if it doesn't work in the first few tries, I get really impatient and a chain of thoughts struck my head that I am not good enough or I suck.. infact in my class I was among the first few ones who had his hands on coding but now people who started a lot later got internships and here sometimes cannot even solved basic problems sometimes.. i am writing this being really desperate for help if anyone knows how to develop logical thinking ability or if anyone knows how to be good at coding please help.. i see my coding career sinking right in front of my eyes

[@TheAlderFalder]

Living at my parents‘ place at 32 is destroying my confidence.

[@augusto256]

Never give up

[@TheAlderFalder]

@@augusto256 I didn't now I found a job, moved out and my place is awesome!

[@Jimmy2001122]

You an I are the same with caffeine, I find it makes me frustrated -_- but great advice.

[@sairabintesalek]

This vid was very emotionally intelligent

[@dushanindunil500]

i am sri lankan student and while i was in middle school i got a scholarship from Chinese government to study Mechanical and electronics engineering ( mechatronics ) but in the final year i dropped out from university cause of my discipline issues. now i am working as a Industrial Automation technician in Romania . i found i really have talent and desire for programming ( embedded and C programming IOT , Python ) but i cant apply jobs because i dont have a bsc degree and now i am 28 years old and no time to start a new degree program. as a non European most of companies asking lot of qualifications rather than skills for Visa purposes and their documents reasons. please be so kind to answer my questions sir ... i really want to be a embedded systems programmer .....COULD YOU SUGGEST ME A SUITABLE ONLINE BSC DEGREE PROGRAME IN COMPUTER SCIENCE / ELECTRONICS / IT

[@NightpireVideos]

Great video, thank you

[@xaviercho7063]

this is what i needed, thank you so much!

[@merlin2049er]

I have stress trying to figure out which program will get me a job.

[@zhouyi9449]

Me too...

[@karimnabil1851]

Is Php still useful? I need to learn it for the final project at university but I actually was more interested in Asp.net, so would I lose anything by learning Php, Laravel or that may come in handy if I wanted to learn Asp in the future?

[@ademineshat]

Thank you man. What you are doing and it's free, wow! God bless you. Best regards Ps. I forgot: don't tell me about caffe, i cant do it :))

[@AndySterkowitz]

Glad to help Neshat! And sorry about the coffee comment haha

[@MrPDTaylor]

Only one coffee when I wake up. Any more causes stress.

[@AndySterkowitz]

Same. I can usually do one cup but anything beyond that starts to give me jitters.

[@MrPDTaylor]

@@eli.lozano I couldn't disagree more. My opinion is correct and is the only opinion that matters. I'm right. You're wrong. That's just the way it is. I see a heart next to my comment. I don't see one next to yours.

[@MrPDTaylor]

@@eli.lozano It was a statement, not advice. The real intention of my comment was to support the channel.

[@collinsnnawuihe6265]

Hello brother, please if someone wants you to be his mentor, how can the person be communicating with you? Thanks

[@AadidevSooknananNXS]

I REALLY REALLY REALLY NEEDED THIS TODAY ESPECIALLY 3:40

[@ebraheemalshapi5659]

3:47 Can you give me one sign of the negative emotion of frustration?

[@ShadiMuhammad]

I think that anxiety may comes from "Iron Deficiency" witch caused by "Tannin".

[@Youtubepoops221]

You take a hit💨💨💨

[@passportbro904]

Working out your strategy to learn code will save 80% of stress

[@marcopolo2605]

I put it on 75% speed to understand Thank u youtube

[@Hunkeykung]

Just wondering if anyone here also forgets to breathe when super focussed? They phenomenon is called screen apnea and is very unhealthy

[@johnsizemore1666]

Dude I just can't do it.. Ive spent hours on one section, and still comes out wrong. And Now I don't even care..

[@johnsizemore1666]

@@willnicholson18 Thanks so much. I stuck with it. I am trying to just go to the gym or something now. Come back and try again. I was getting to emotional. because I am usually so good at everything. It was a bitter-pill. Wont give up..

[@BVK_LMZ]

thanks

[@akashshrestha01]

Great

[@passportbro904]

The only frustration im feeling is how long it'll take till im earning coding money 💰

[@jasonmiller1347]

I been down the Adderall path... It is not healthy and definitely not sustainable in the long term. If I can't do programming naturally then I shouldn't do it at all. That's my theory with everything.

[@Blackdiamond929_]

Coding is like a battle of the mind 😅

[@shahadebed4613]

really I start to hate any word related to software it's out my hands now I can't deal with it I try a lot and fail Really hate my self

[@RAGHAVENDRASINGH17]

Is your frame Ray Ban?