[astrodust]

Maybe you're just not in the right mind-set. Programming, being highly analytical, requires a certain outlook to properly understand and if you're not in that state of mind you might have little luck getting anywhere.

I'd argue a good portion of learning how to program is simply in learning how to hold yourself in that state for longer periods of time.

The best way to introduce yourself to programming is to start small, build something, but always build it to completion. You learn very little from efforts that don't produce results. Even a "Hello World!" success propels you forward a tiny bit. Build on it. Make something incrementally more complicated from there.

The best motivator is to have an idea that's compelling. Always start with something far simpler than your original idea, strip it down to the absolute essentials, practice by building parts of it in isolation and later try for a more integrated approach.

The other thing that's important is persistence. You need to put in a bit of time each day, every day, in order to move ahead. Taking a few days off is damaging to your momentum and in that time you're already losing track of things. Training requires continuous exposure.