Struggling with Tutorial Hell? Here are 5 Tips to Get Out of Tutorial Hell

 Have you ever spent hours watching tutorials only to realize you still can't code anything on your own without a tutorila guiding you? That isn't because you are terrible at coding, it has a name - tutorial hell. It is our situation where you watch coding tutorials and understand everything in that moment but whenever someone gives you a laptop to start coding, your brain goes blank. This problem is more common than you may think. A lot of beginners tend to get stuck in this stage for an extremely long period of time. Tutorials are a great way of learning to code but overdependence can stunt a person's growth. The real learning usually takes place when you struggle with a certain problem on your own for a while before seeking help, experiment with something new and fail numerous times before eventually succeeding. Getting out of tutorial hell isn't just about watching less tutorials but also practically applying what you already learnt so as to retain information effectively. In this post, we'll explore 5 actionable tips to help you escape tutorial hell and move from a state of passive learning to a state of active learning.

1.Add features to existing projects

Adding new features allows you to learn how to plan, think and debug on your own, this is where the real learning takes place. This will help you apply concepts without the complexities of building a large project. It is a great place to start. It reinforces what you already learnt and builds confidence. As you add features, you learn how data flows within an application and see patterns - an important component of being a great programmer.

2. Pick a small project

Tutorial hell usually hapens when you consume content without applying it on your own. Building a project allows you to put to practise whatever it is you learned. Building a project forces you to move from passive learning to active learning. Building a project forces you into a mental space where you now start to think how to begin to tackle a project and the logic to follow to make the program work. The first project to build does not have to be a full-scale app, it just needs to be small enough to help cement the foundation on the concepts you already learnt. The goal when building these projects is completion not perfection. You end up learning so much when you finish one project in addition to having a boost of confidence for having proof of your work. Choose a project to code, decide the function of the project and then use what you already know to build it. The process of building this project will enable you to see the gaps in your education you need to fill and what you should learn next.

3.Use tutorials for reference

Getting out of tutorial hell does not entail completely letting go of watching tutorials. Learning how to properly leverage tutorials is a better course of action to take instead. Tutorials should not be used as a step-by-step guide for learning, especially as you advance. You should be able to think and understand why the instructor is doing what they are doing, not just writing one line of code after another without getting the logic behind it. You can use tutorials to understand why you are struggling with a bug and how to fix the error. It assists to build your capacity for thinking and problem-solving. Also, instead of building exactly what the instructor is building, use the tutorial to understand the concepts and syntax being taught, then use those ideas to build your own project. 

4.Join a community

Tutorial hell more often than not takes place when one chooses to learns in isolation. Joining a community enables you to ask questions and seek inspiration from other professionals. There comes a time when you are learning to code where you hit a wall you struggle to overcome. It could be a bug that no matter how much you try to fix you just still encounter errors or a lack of motivation, a community will definitely help you get through those challenges. Communities also help give you feedback so as you can know whether you are on the right track. Without that you just end up falling back into the trap of using tutorials as a crutch. All coders get stuck at some point, the difference between those that stay stuck and move forward tends to be whether you are integrated in a strong community.

5.Teach others

This is one of the most overlooked ways to get out of tutorial hell. Trying to teach a concept to someone else helps you realize whether you actually understand it yourself. It puts you in a situation where you are able to see gaps in your learning. Seeing those gaps is good because it allows you to work on them. Teaching unlocks a deeper level of understanding, not just memorizing lines of code. When you teach, you are inadvertently put in a position where you have to understand why something works, organize the information logically and simplify complex ideas.

Remember, tutorials are not meant to be crutches, they are meant to be tools. They should guide you towards the right path but not do the heavy lifting for you. By following the steps mentioned above, you will learn how to break big problems into smaller pieces so as to fix easily, google stuff you do not understand and piece information together. Doing all of this will teach you one important component of learning to code which is independent problem-solving. In the process of doing all this you will likely make a lot of mistakes, it will be important in those moments that you remember mistakes are a sign of growth not proof of failure. Every bug you fix, every feature you add and every concept you look into will take you closer to being a better and more efficient programmer.