One of the more intimidating things with building a portfolio of work is just finding the time!
Practising small coding questions on websites like codingbat.com can be an excellent way to learn.
But the larger projects that will become the centrepiece of your portfolio can’t be completed in an hour, or often even in an afternoon.
In order to tackle larger projects more successfully I strongly suggest the following:
#1 Pick a project that means something to you. If you make the 100th generic restaurant website… that’s perfectly good. But does that really motivate you? Pick something that you’re excited to work on, whether it’s something for a charity or maybe a personal hobby. It will keep you engaged and interested.
#2 Break down the project into small pieces. As small as you are able to!
#3 Assign an order to completing each piece. What pieces do you need to work on first?
#4 Set aside scheduled time to work on the project. It could just be an hour a day, or it could be an afternoon a week.
#5 Track your progress. Track your progress by checking off each piece you complete.
#6 Find support. Let others who will encourage you know about your progress. Find a group of peers online and/or offline in a similar situation and support one another. By letting others know about your project you are creating a form of accountability.
#7 Don’t give up. Every single person who ever completed a large project felt lost or confused at some point, or felt like giving up. Just keep at it, you will finish it!
And finally… when you’re all done, don’t forget to reward yourself somehow!