How Can I Tell When I’m Ready to Start My Own Projects Instead of Following Tutorials?

I can relate to your struggle! When I started, I’d follow tutorials to build something, then tweak it to make it my own. Now, I often refer to documentation instead of full tutorials. But the core process is the same: gather info, apply it, and see what works for your project.

What you're experiencing is often called 'tutorial hell.' My advice? Pick a simple project and go for it without following a tutorial. You can always look up documentation or google specific things, but try to build it on your own. If I were starting over, I would tackle a coding challenge that really caught my interest. It’s a great way to learn without getting stuck in the tutorial loop.

It's a bit like learning how to swim. Are you going to learn by just watching someone, or do you need to jump into the pool? Try starting with small projects and gradually take on bigger challenges. It’s all about building your confidence to dive deeper!

Having a specific problem to solve can really help kickstart your creativity. For example, if you're tired of manually updating your DNS server when you deploy a Docker container, think about that as your project. Outline your program on paper first—this helps a lot when it comes to actually coding it. Once you have a roadmap, the steps to code it will become much clearer.

The easiest way to break free is to simply stop using tutorials, even at the beginning. You’ll learn a lot more by trying things out and figuring them out on the go.