Why You Should Start a Daily Coding Habit Par :Lauren Girdler September 18, 2018 Estimated reading time: 3 minutes. We’ve all been there, making the promise that this time you’re going to learn to speak another language, workout every day, read a book a week, build up your coding skills. This is going to be the year / month / week you commit to that daily habit that leads to a better you. The problem is that creating new habits can be incredibly difficult and finding time to practice something every day can seem impossible with so many other commitments. When it comes to coding, you’ve likely already started trying to learn on your own. Maybe you tried out an online tutorial, only to stop the lessons after a few days. Then, you came back to coding a few weeks later and had nearly forgotten everything you already learned! To truly gain a new skill you need to dive in to build that muscle memory. You need to commit to practicing coding every day. A Skill in High Demand Coding knowledge continues to be a skill that is in high demand. Having a solid understanding of coding (and the world of tech in general) is not going to hurt you professionally, in fact, it can only help. Learning the basics of code can: Increase your value within your current role Open up a broader range of career opportunities for you Enhance your creativity, especially if you are already working in a creative field Help you stand out in a competitive job market Getting Over That Initial Learning Hurdle At Lighthouse Labs, we have seen people with many different reasons for wanting to learn to code. It ranges from the desire to become a developer, to creating something for themselves, to understanding code well enough to manage or speak with developers, or just because they want to learn something new. We’ve designed the 21-Day Coding Challenge experience to help you get past that initial burst of “learning to code enthusiasm” and move into truly learning code. That’s because practicing something and turning that into a daily habit increases your learning of that skill exponentially. We’re challenging you, regardless of your coding experience level, to spend 15 to 30 minutes a day learning JavaScript. The challenges will get progressively harder as each of the 21 days goes on, but so too will your knowledge and coding expertise. If you’ve dabbled in the basics of JavaScript or HTML & CSS, but you need some guidance along the way, then we’re here to help you build up that daily coding habit. One of the hardest parts of learning to code is getting the opportunity to practice along a structured path - so we’ve designed the 21-Day Coding Challenge to do just that. We will be sending you daily email reminders about the 21-Day Coding Challenge to help you stay on track. We’re also encouraging all participants to build and join teams to code together. Plus, if you find yourself running into difficulties (or you just have questions) we have a Help Forum ready to go. Learning as Part of a Community (Plus Prizes) You can, of course, complete the 21-Day Coding Challenge solo. But we like to code as a community and we want to encourage you to do the same! You can start a public team, where anyone can search for and join your team, or you can set your team to private where people will need a secret code to join. Or you can join a team that a friend or colleague has already created. Oh and don’t forget, the team with the most challenges completed (combined) will win a special prize as a part of our Team Leaderboard Competition and will be featured on the Lighthouse Labs blog. So there’s a little extra incentive for you! We’re also here to support you throughout the 21-Day Coding Challenge. That’s why we have setup our Help Forum to answer your questions along the way. This isn’t designed as a place to get a quick answer, but instead meant to be a discussion where everyone within the community learns and grows together. Ask questions or chat about coding - other learners are the best resource around. Plus! We will also be revealing tips and hints on the Lighthouse Labs’ official Twitter @lighthouse_labs, LinkedIn and Instagram @lighthouselabs. Join the conversation and unlock clues by following along. Plus, plus! There will be prizes throughout the Challenge. As an added incentive, we’re offering a ton of great prizes for those who enter, complete, and create teams for the 21-Day Coding Challenge. We’re offering a ton of amazing prizes, including an LG Television and Pioneer Home Entertainment System valued at over $5,000! The 21-Day Coding Challenge starts November 22, 2021. To signup and for details on the challenges, prizes, rules & regulations and so much more, go to our website.