overwhelmed with information to learn

Hi all,

So basically my question boils down to how I can be more focused when it comes to my studies. I guess this could apply to anyone who deals with the internet and the vast amount of information and click bait out there.

I'm trying to put in the time to become a software developer and I find that I am highly distracted by all the info out there. One minute I'm trying to work on my javascript algorithms course (which is probably my main focus, or rather, should be), and the next minute I'm falling down the wikipedia rabbit hole on the history of linux. Or maybe I see a neat article on something related to a problem I'm working on and then before I know it I've been on stack exchange for an hour on a completely different topic.

I want to chalk this up to me simply being just highly curious about the computer science world in general and my overall sense of wishing I had chosen that for my major. I love learning about math and science and that's always been the case. I have an Electrical Engineering degree, but I graduated with it at a time where that field had pretty much dried up, and the shift had overwhelmingly gone over to the CS realm as far as where the jobs were.

Also, I find that the world of computer science to be just so ridiculously huge, it's somewhat defeating as to how many new technologies and tools are out there and are popping up constantly. I feel like its something I should have started diving into with vigor at like age 12 or something. I'm here in my mid 30's and it seems like I'm back to square one at each and every turn.

I realize this is all very first world problem-y, and I am grateful that I am back in "study" mode as far as wanting to change my career, but its also just somewhat frustrating how massive this pool is and how little progress I feel I'm making.

Anyone else experience this?

Any tips on how to narrow my focus from a studying perspective?

Well, the Internet has made us all attention deficit. I don't know what to say to you except maybe lots of coffee and sheer mind over matter in buckling down and not going off into the Internet.

Seriously, that's me to a tee! Internet at times ends up being quite a distraction. In fact, I've now looked into website blockers for studying, productivity and focus. Yeah, I was about to read some articles on it... except, let's finish replying to you first and then keep reading.

This article is suggesting some possibly interesting apps. Perhaps someone in here knows more about this.

As a developer you have to study all the time. In order to learn fast, you need to have a specific goal in mind. Like building a small website. Then you will have to write in both Javascript, CSS,HTML (front end ) and in Java or another back end language. You should also you the latest technologies like Spring etc etc. It takes time and you can't learn anything. For starters, try to get familiar with a combination of tools. Don't try to learn multiple languages at once.

Just focus on the final 'product' . Writing code without a specific goal doesn't lead anywhere

Save links to things you'll want to explore later as a reward for staying in-scope and completing what you've already assigned yourself.

Assignment deadlines beat all else, so set up a reward system for meeting those. Train yourself to stay on task, and you will thank yourself later. The rest of the 'stuff' will all still be there later, AFTER you finish your assignments.