Lessons I learned from only programming for 7 days

I spent the last 7 days coding all the time almost 15–18 hours/day as I took part in a week-long hackathon known as MLH Local Hack Day: Build.

Why this experience was important for me?

Before getting to my experiences let me tell you why this experience was important for me? I’m a 10th-grade student studying in India, a content creator, and a programmer(these are the things I define myself with).

And for a long time, I have been trying to dabble with them. So, this was a unique experience for me to get out of my usual routine.

Lesson 1: Sometimes getting out of your daily routine is a great idea

Most of us are living our lives following a routine and in following this routine sometimes we become like robots doing one task after the other mindlessly.

This is good if our days are filled with things that we love to do.

But for me, the past couple of months felt like I wasn’t able to do the things that I really loved to do. I’m the person who created 5 Notion templates in a month and now I wasn’t able to make time to even write a single tweet.

That is why I think getting out of my daily routine to realize the kind of time I have in a day was really empowering.

Lesson 2: Your Community is your biggest resource

The hackathon that I took part in had no prizes but I still wanted to do it and was spending 15–18 hours per day.

Reason: the community. The community keeps you motivated, the community helps and the community makes it fun for you.

Lesson 3: Get uncomfortable

I have always been afraid of getting in front of a camera, talking to people, etc and this fear has always stopped me from getting the most out of the opportunities I get and, I wanted to fix it.

So, I took a step in this hackathon. I went on 2 live streams. I was shaking the whole time but it was super fun and I’m so happy that I did that.

Getting uncomfortable and taking that one step could truly change your mindset about anything.