Background

I code for 12 hours a day.

Ok that's a lie, but I do code a lot. Whenever I get a bit of free time, my first instinct is go work on some sort of side project that's been living rent free in my mind.

But it wasn't always like this.

My version of fun used to be playing League of Legends until 2 AM in the morning. 6 hours a day. Often more. But somewhere along the way, I found out a way to redirect that same obsessive energy into something productive.

It's not about forcing yourself. It's about rewiring your brain to genuinely enjoy coding.

But while everyone tells you to "just enjoy coding", in this blog, I'm going to tell you how.

1. Treat Coding as a Puzzle, Not a Chore

Ask yourself:

• Why do people scroll TikTok for hours?
• Why do people binge Netflix?
• Why do people play video games until 2 AM?

The answer? Dopamine.

Your brain craves rewards - not productivity.

So instead of fighting it, use it

Coding becomes fun when you treat it like a puzzle you want to solve, not homework you have to finish.

How to do this in practice?

Pick projects you actually care about.

Not “build a to-do app” because someone told you to — but things that spark curiosity:

• Build a dumb Chrome extension that fixes something annoying
• Pull data from an API you already use and visualize it
• Clone an app you like and try to replicate one feature

Mess around with APIs, play with CSS animations, break stuff and customize it to your liking.

When the project is interesting, the bugs stop feeling like blockers — they become challenges.

2. Develop a Coding Ritual

Obsession is just a fancy word for consistency.

If you wanted to run a marathon having never run before, do you think you can run 40km on your first go? No!

(if you actually could then you should go and become a professional athlete)

We want to build a habit of coding bit by bit.

The Ritual: Code at the same time everyday. Set a timeblock, even if it's just for 20 minutes.

Once you start and get in the flow of things, maybe you'd want to go for even longer. But the minimum is what matters.

Miss a day? No guilt. Just show up on the next day.

After a while, your brain starts to crave coding like it's your morning coffee.

It stops being "work" and something you genuinely want to do - anywhere, anytime.

3. Learning Should Feel Hard

Most people learn coding passively: Watching tutorials and following instructions step by step. This feels productive, but the truth? You're going to forget everything a week later.

Instead, learn strategically.

Active Learning > Passive Learning

Open source projects are your playground.

• Clone open-source repositories
• Try to understand how they work
• Break them / try to find a bug
• Fix them
• Repeat

Or maybe you want to target your weaknesses directly:

• Bad at algorithms? Grind Leetcode.
• Hate CSS? Build 20 ugly buttons, then redesign them to make them beautiful

I used to hate data structures and algorithms. Now we are... not friends, but at least on speaking terms.

You will hit walls.

You'll debug for hours. You'll feel dumb. You'll quesion if you're "cut out for this"

When that happens, come back here.

Loving coding isn't a personally trait. It’s a system.

Build the right feedback loops and obsession follows naturally.

4. Find Your Coding Community

Developers are like cats. We pretend to not need anyone, but in reality, we desperately want someone to validate our frustrations when our 3 hour debugging session was caused by a missing semicolon.

Why community matters

1. You realise you actually know things. When you can explain your code and discuss it with other developers, it gives you a great sense of progression and motivation.
2. Teaching reinforces understanding. Search up the Feyman Technique
3. Accountability keeps you consistent

How do I find communities?

My suggestions:

1. dev.to
2. Hashnode
3. Discord groups (my personal favorite, they have a ton of people eager to help)
4. Local meetups

5. Be Lazy (Efficient)

Most obsessed coders aren't just hardcore - they're lazy.

Why write 100 line when a loop can do it? Why manually test when you can write a script that automates it?

Learn tools that remove friction:

• Bash scripts
• Python scripts
• Github Actions
• CI/CD pipelines

Efficiency compounds motivation. The smoother your workflow, the easier it is to keep showing up.

Closing Remarks

You don't fall in love with coding overnight. It takes time. Use the tips I gave above to build a system that makes coding rewarding - and let your brain do the rest. The smoother your workflow, the easier it is to keep showing up.

Hope this helps :)