Website Building for the Technically-Challenged

Building a website is no joke.

At least, I can’t laugh about it yet. Maybe in five years.

Like many others before me, I had the smart idea to go self-hosted. Purchasing the domain and hosting was simple. Choosing a theme? Not so much. Comprehending the technical errors? It felt near-impossible.

I invested a ridiculous amount of time into this website, I’m embarrassed to even type in the number of hours. Now that it’s over, I’m reflecting on why my brain failed me.

Throughout the month of March, I’ll be digging into the research behind how our brains (especially mom brains, no-sleep brains, aging brains) process and retain new information. I’m looking for hacks I can easily implement into my own life and how to make learning a task, such as basic website coding, feasible. I’m excited to see what I come up with!

WELCOME to my new site and a new post!

I hope you’ll join me as I share real-life experiences and solutions that you can tweak to make your life better. Subscribe now and you’ll get a monthly email rounding up my blog posts.

One Email. Once a month.

Do you need insight now? Maybe you’re trying to build your own website or learn something new and wondering why it feels difficult? I’ll be sharing links to the best articles I find on the web.

Follow me on  Twitter and Facebook for links to my latest research.

My first google search gave me hope. It seems like no matter how flustered my brain feels, there’s hope that I can learn new tricks, even those involving a technical language that’s foreign to me. I’m excited to dive into these different articles and come up with some evidence-based information and life hacks that truly make a difference.

But I digress, let me start by talking about my IRL (in real life) experience.

Website-ing and my brain

I maneuver technology well-enough. I install and uninstall, click buttons to buy apps, and end up entering my password several times before dejectedly clicking on the “forgot password” link. My main tool is my iPad, as I prefer the portability over my laptop. In my iPad, I navigate apps, create cool images, and publish in WordPress. I click buttons. Stuff appears. It’s all good. When errors pop up, followed by me reading lengthy tutorials, my eyes go blurry and my brain is like a webpage that keeps trying to close with an error message. When faced with widgets, footers, sidebars, and images that aren’t drag and drop, eeek. I feel like a newbie.

My brain on code

As my mind struggled to grasp the technical issues of website building, information kept leaking out. It reminded me of the unconscious dance around dinner leftovers every night.

I judge the contents of the pan to determine the correct size of the container. I find the container and lid, while second-guessing my estimate, then ladle soup or pasta into the bowl. I put those last spoonfuls of sauce on top and it’s looking good. It’s gonna fit.

As the lid goes on, those last spoonfuls squeeze out of the container and drip down the sides.

Just like my leftovers, I consumed all this information and attempted to store it away. Everything I tried to squeeze in, sloshed back out.

Feeble attempts

I spent hours squinting at multiple screens, reading articles, watching how-to videos, and troubleshooting why what I envisioned in my head wasn’t appearing on the screen. I’d finally get up the courage to climb into the code-pile of seemingly-random marks and quotations mixed-in with words and tags.

And I was lost.

Every. Damn. Time.

It was maddening because I used to comprehend the basics. I could at minimum form paragraphs and bullets.

Apparently, that’s all gone now. Brain cells lost in the abyss of my mind.

Now, my brain classifies coding as a cross between a foreign language and algebra. Neither of which has ever been clear to me. I blocked off alone time, dedicated myself to it, but I couldn’t retain anything I was learning.

It was like groundhog day

The same moment playing out every time I sat down to website, or build, or code, or whatever the hell I was trying to do. I’d be staring at the screen, then turn my head away.

A mere three-second distraction, long enough for a sip of coffee, a glance at my notifications, or itching a scratch on my ankle, then I’d swivel back to the screen.

And literally, have no idea what I was doing.

It kept happening again and again. I’d figure out something and jot it down. An hour later, my brain acted like it had never seen or heard of that information before. Nor could I locate a scrap of paper holding my memory cues. I don’t remember this ever being such a big issue, then again maybe not remembering is the key problem here. I’m extremely organized, so I couldn’t figure out why all these technical problems were plaguing me.

Is it just me?

Upon reflection, I feel like this task could be done by a newbie. Especially a young newbie. With a fresh brain. Someone without a toddler chasing the puppy who is chasing the cat, while 250 pounds of dogs tackle each other mere feet away from where you’re working.

It’s possible.

And I know there are plenty of successful people learning new tricks every day, so it’s possible for others with mom brains and old brains and poor eyesight but not-buying-readers-yet brains to learn. I have hope.

Plus, I have to do this again. This isn’t a one and done thing.

With all the crazy distractions of my life, combined with exhaustion, I need to figure out how to make my brain function more efficiently. I’m doing a little research to find out how to tweak my brain to handle technical tasks that I’m unfamiliar with. I’m not sure if these practical tips will help me out, as that struggle may only be eased by preschool and doggie daycare.

During the month of March, I’ll be exploring:

• How can a brain learn new info
• How can a brain retain new info
• How to effectively switch between tasks

What’s your experience in website building? If you have any resources, that helped you, from a total-newbie perspective, please share them in the comments!

Share this...

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Linkedin