To Plateau is an interesting experience, and one that we will all experience at some point in the development of new skills and hobbies. When you progress so rapidly in a new skill and feel the sudden whiplash as you hit that glass ceiling and that rapid progress comes to a grinding halt.
I’ve spent the last few days banging my head against the keyboard trying to create the same project that I started nearly a month ago, and feeling no improvement in that time.
This is so different for me because I went from 0-knowledge to understanding and creating complex algorithms in Python in just 6 months. Progression and developing new skills is all I’ve ever known in my entire software development endeavour. One of the first things we were taught in my programming fundamentals course was that this is to be expected. We will see regular changes between sudden progress and brick walls that halt any sense of learning.
Despite knowing this, I’m finding it difficult to find the motivation to break through the plateau, this time around. I look at the same problems, Katas, and exercises that I struggled with a few months ago, and I still shake my head and decide to go back to playing whatever video game I’m playing, or finish whatever Uni assignment it is that I’ve been putting off.
I’m not entirely sure why I’ve written this entry. I just feel the need to document this, at this moment. Maybe I’ll eventually break past this ceiling and look back at this post, as a reminder that I can always improve.
But maybe I won’t. Time will tell!