Courses or Projects? Finding Your Ideal Learning Path

Over time, I’ve realized there are two main ways I learn new skills: either through structured courses or by diving into self-driven projects. Both approaches have their own advantages and downsides, and each one teaches you differently.

COURSES

Courses are great when you want a clear roadmap and someone else guiding you. The structure and flow mean you don’t have to think about what to learn next, just follow the path laid out by experts. Plus, courses often cover fundamentals, so you get a solid foundation that’s hard to build on your own. But there’s a downside too: courses can be expensive and often focus on theory, not practical application. You might finish a course and feel accomplished but still unsure how to use what you learned in a real-world situation. Also, a lot of times, courses move at a set pace, which can feel slow if you pick things up quickly or overwhelming if you need more time to absorb the content.

PROJECTS

On the other hand, there’s the project route—where you teach yourself through hands-on experience. For me, this is a different kind of learning because you’re diving into something without a set path, figuring things out as you go. Projects are messy, unpredictable, and don’t always come with a neat roadmap, but that’s what makes them effective. You’re forced to tackle real challenges, make mistakes, and search for solutions in real time. You might end up spending hours on something that seems small, but that’s the part where you really learn. Projects also let you focus on exactly what interests you, so there’s no fluff; you’re just zeroing in on what you actually need.

But projects have their downsides too. Without guidance, it’s easy to miss important concepts or spend too much time trying to solve things the hard way. And sometimes, projects can lead you down a rabbit hole without a clear end goal, which can be frustrating. It requires more patience and perseverance.

In the end, I think both approaches complement each other. Courses give you the structured knowledge, while projects turn that knowledge into actual skills. The best balance is to start with a course for the basics and then dive into a project to cement what you’ve learned. That way, you get the best of both worlds—structure and flexibility, theory and practice.

Author: Kishore Mondal