Me Am Brain Hurting

Learning programming is starting to hurt my brain a little bit. It's been a long time since I really sat down and learned something that wasn't easy for me to pick up.


Usually, most every subject I pick up is something I already have some familiarity with. For instance, I wanted to learn about dog training. I knew a bit about it to begin with and had family who worked with animals, so it wasn't that bad to learn. I wanted to learn about World War II. I already knew the basics, so it wasn't that difficult.

However, programming is tough. It's really tough. It's not even just the syntax, which is literally like learning a brand new language. Reconfiguring my brain to sort out the equations necessary is what's really been the most draining.

Now, I've reconfigured my brain like this in the past. I've picked up math classes really quickly after the initial shock wore off. For example, I had a math class that I started six weeks after the rest of the class and I finished a week ahead of everyone else. At the start of the class, it took a week or two of headaches (literally) and then I was able to push through.

I think that's been the hardest part for me so far: The headaches. Whenever I learn a concept that's totally foreign to me or take on a new large task, I get raging headaches that only go away after I sleep. Then I'm usually able to take on the next task or chunk of the lesson. It's almost like when you exercise and your muscles hurt afterwards. I'm exercising my brain and it hurts.

If this post is a little rambling, that's because I'm right in the middle of, you guessed it, a major headache. I'm just trying to dump my feelings on the page in hopes that someone else who's in the same boat might read this and feel that they're not alone in this.

Must sleep now.