When will Learn JavaScript be completed?

The most common question I get about Learn JavaScript is: “When will Learn JavaScript be complete?”

If you don’t know, Learn JavaScript is my flagship JavaScript course. You can find out more about the course here.

The best answer I could come up with was: “I don’t know”.

I hated myself for saying that.

I’ve been writing Learn JavaScript since last August. I promised myself a certain deadline twice. And I failed to hit the deadline twice. I feel ashamed for creating content so slowly.

I came to a point where I’m scared to promise a deadline. I don’t want to disappoint my students. I don’t want to disappoint myself either.

But I realize that I can’t say “I don’t know” to students who already bought the course. They have a right to know. So today, I’m going to overcome my fear and provide you with a proper estimate.

Before I tell you the estimated completion date, let me tell you why my estimates have failed so far.

Why my estimates have failed

When I launched Learn JavaScript last August, I made $10,000. I told myself that this number is a great success (for having no product)!

I decided to focus on writing Learn JavaScript full time for the next 3 months. I was confident I’d be able to complete the entire course in 3 months.

That confidence was rooted in thin air. I came up with a number I could live with and decided I’ll complete it then.

And I ran into two problems:

1. I did not expect the amount of work to balloon.
2. I did not expect to spend time on other activities

I did not expect work to balloon

I spent weeks outlining Learn JavaScript before I presold the course in August 2017. I thought my outline was complete.

But it wasn’t.

My outline was shit.

I realized I had to expand each chapter 3-5 times to explain JavaScript clearly.

Why 3-5 times?

I didn’t know how much I knew about JavaScript. Everything I knew about JavaScript was already unconscious knowledge. I didn’t see this coming.

When there’s more content, there’s more work.

But I’m expanding the course anyway, without charging students an extra cent. I promised them they’ll learn JavaScript through the course. They will become successful at it.

I’m going to live through this promise. Even if I had to do lots of extra work.

I’ll never cut corners on my promises.

I did not expect to spend time on other activities

When I started writing Learn JavaScript, I thought I’ll spend all my working hours on the course.

I was foolish to think this way.

2017 was a harsh year. I barely earned enough for a living with my books and courses. I needed money. I had to save up for a mortgage and a child in the next two years.

During this period, I considered looking for a job and stopping my blog for good.

So when I created Learn JavaScript, I was on the lookout for consulting opportunities at the same time. It goes without saying that I’m not spending all my working hours producing Learn JavaScript lessons

In 2018, I got a big break. I made enough from the second Learn JavaScript launch. I don’t have to worry about money for the entire year, so I decided to write again. Full time.

But I forgot that I still had to blog. And I had to create videos. The marketing has to go on! And I dedicated almost half my working hours to the blog and the video.

These activities took time.

It was stupid of me to assume that I could write Learn JavaScript lessons 100% of the time.

So you’ve heard a short story about how I sucked at estimating work. And my stupidity about estimating time. You’re ready to hear the estimate.

When will Learn JavaScript be completed?

Here’s what I know:

1. I can create 1-2 lessons for Learn JavaScript each week.
2. There’s still 100+ more lessons to write (if I use the current outline)

If I go at a rate of 2 lessons per week, I’ll be able to finish the course in approximately one year.

But there are still two factors that I don’t know about:

1. Will I have to expand on the outline again?
2. Will my working cycles be disrupted by other reasons?

Regarding the outline, I know I’ll have to expand the outline for sure. I believe I’ll have to write about 150 lessons max. I can’t say for sure though.

Regarding working cycles, my baby is coming in October. I’m happy to get a baby, but I’m worried that she’ll disrupt my working cycle. If she disrupts my working cycle heavily, I might be forced to delay the course completion date again.

So, knowing what I know now, and knowing what else is to come, I estimate I’ll be done with Learn JavaScript in 1.5 years. This means Learn JavaScript should be fully completed by January 2020.

😱.

Can you guarantee that Learn JavaScript will be completed by January 2020?

I’ll be honest.

I can’t guarantee that I will complete Learn JavaScript by 2020.

But I promise I’m going to do my best to meet the deadline. I’m already trying ways and means to improve my production speed (with some success so far!). I’ll share my experiments with you in the next article.

If you bought Learn JavaScript in July and decided that January 2020 is too long for you, please go ahead and ask for a refund. You have the right to do so according to my new refund policy.

Wrapping up

I hate to say this. I feel guilty and ashamed for not completing Learn JavaScript already. I promise to work as hard (and as fast) as I can over the next 1.5 years to complete it.

To students who are already in Learn JavaScript: thanks for your patience. I’ll put the best JavaScript course you’ll ever see in your hands. If you have any JavaScript questions, please feel free to ask them in the community. I read and answer every question.