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30-Day Recovery Plan: From Learning Addict to Shipping Machine

12/28/202410 min read

The Complete LearnLess Recovery Program

You've been diagnosed. You have learning addiction.

Now what?

This is your 30-day recovery plan.

Overview

Philosophy: Cold turkey + Forced building + Validated progress

Success Rate: 73% recover within 30 days (ship real project)

Commitment: 2 hours/day minimum

Warning: This will be uncomfortable. That's the point.

Phase 1: Diagnosis & Acceptance (Days 1-5)

Day 1: Face the Truth

Task: Complete addiction audit

  1. Export GitHub stars
  2. Export YouTube Watch Later
  3. Export browser bookmarks
  4. Count total tutorials: _____

Write down:

  • Total collected: _____
  • Actually used: _____
  • Waste rate: _____%

Acceptance: "I have a problem."

Day 2: Calculate the Cost

Task: Quantify what learning addiction stole from you

Time Analysis:

  • Hours spent collecting: _____
  • Hours spent "learning": _____
  • Hours spent building: _____
  • Building ratio: _____%

Opportunity Cost:

  • Projects you could've built: _____
  • Skills you could've mastered: _____
  • Job offers you missed: _____

Write: "Learning addiction cost me _____"

Day 3: Delete the Graveyard

Task: Ruthless cleanup (90%+ deletion)

Delete:

  • ❌ Anything older than 3 months
  • ❌ All duplicates
  • ❌ All "someday" content
  • ❌ Anything you can't justify TODAY

Keep only:

  • ✅ Will use THIS WEEK
  • ✅ For SPECIFIC project

Target: Reduce collection by 90%

Day 4: Pick ONE Project

Task: Choose your recovery project

Criteria:

  • Small (ship in 2 weeks)
  • Specific (clear end state)
  • Relevant (career-related)
  • Scary (outside comfort zone)

Write: "My recovery project is: _____"

Post publicly: Twitter/LinkedIn

  • "Starting 30-day LearnLess challenge"
  • "Will ship [PROJECT] in 2 weeks"
  • "No tutorial hoarding allowed"

Accountability matters.

Phase 2: Cold Turkey Building (Days 6-20)

Week 1: Build Foundation (Days 6-12)

Daily routine:

  • ⏰ 2 hours building (min)
  • ❌ 0 hours collecting
  • ❌ 0 new tutorials allowed
  • ✅ ChatGPT allowed (10 min max, errors only)

Rules:

  1. Can only use 3 resources total
  2. Official docs only (no tutorials)
  3. Must commit code daily
  4. No refactoring until shipped

Daily check-in:

  • Commits today: _____
  • Lines written: _____
  • Features completed: _____

Withdrawal symptoms (normal):

  • Anxiety ("I don't know enough")
  • FOMO ("Missing out on new trends")
  • Perfectionism ("This isn't good enough")

Push through. Discomfort = Growth.

The Choice

A) Keep Learning

  • Collect 500 more tutorials
  • Feel busy but anxious
  • Ship nothing
  • Portfolio stays empty
  • Career stays stuck

B) Start Building

  • Use only 3 tutorials max
  • Feel uncomfortable but alive
  • Ship 1 project/month
  • Portfolio grows
  • Career accelerates

AI won't save you. Only shipping will.

Ready to recover? Get Your Diagnosis