Hour a Day

 It's been a while since my last post, hasn't it? Oops!

I've been up to a lot in the meantime. One thing I have learned in the meantime is the power of an hour a day.

Last spring I had a baby. Then, last fall, when she was 6 months old and started having a regular bedtime before mine, I found I had an hour a day in the evenings. So, during my bedtime pumping session, I began learning JavaScript with free online classes.

You may have guessed I enjoy website design, between this blog and me having an author website. I first taught myself HTML and some (basic) CSS as a teen, back in my fanfiction-writing days. So I thought I might software engineering, too, and figured I'd start these free classes to see if I was right.

In spring, I applied to a coding bootcamp, and was accepted.

Last week, I graduated from the Grace Hopper program at Fullstack Academy, as a full stack software engineer!

It started with an hour a day. 

An hour doesn't seem long--but that's half the point. If you can steal an hour of your day to learn, or produce, you can do a lot.

It didn't end with an hour a day (the Grace Hopper program took about 50-60 hours a week of time for the junior and senior phases, and I couldn't have done it without childcare and support from my family), but three months of an hour a day was enough to get into the program. An hour a day for a few months opened up a world of possibilities.

Can you write 500 words in an hour? Then you can write a 100K words in under a year--and you can spend an hour of editing for the rest of the year for a story you're ready to shop.

Can you make a pair of earrings in an hour? Then you can 365 pairs in a year, and have an inventory ready to sell. 

An hour is powerful. 

Have faith in yourself and what you can accomplish. It might not be easy, it might not be quick, but consistency, determination, and belief in your own abilities can open a world of opportunities.