Do you code how many hours a day? 🔥📸

We’ve all heard of the “rule” that says it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert in any field. Not only might that be intimidating for people just starting out on their coding journey, it also might not be entirely true. In this sponsored guest post, Ken Mazaika, co-founder of The Firehose Project, explains why you shouldn’t take the 10,000 hour rule so literally. Take it away, Ken! —- Back in 2011, Malcolm Gladwell published Outliers, the story of how the most successful people in the world attained their elite status. In the book, Gladwell argued that there was one common thread among all of the world-class practitioners in different fields. HIS THEORY: THE 10,000 HOUR RULE. You’re most likely familiar with this rule. But in short, it stated that in order to achieve world-class status in any field, you need to practice the right way for 10,000 hours. So, let’s say you practice a craft, like programming, for 40 hours per week. There are about 52 weeks in a year (not counting leap years). So, if you have what it takes to be an outlier, you would need to practice 40 hours per week for about 5 years in order to become a master at your craft. This should essentially make you the Mozart of writing code. Understandably, Gladwell simplified his idea in order to sell more books. I don’t have a huge problem with that. But there is a massive problem with the 10,000 Hour Rule. THIS ONE PROBLEM REALLY HURTS PEOPLE WHO ARE LEARNING TO CODE.