This couldn't be farther from the truth. There is a vast difference between being shot from work and sitting down for a long stretch of time by yourself to self-study and being shot from work and sitting down for a long stretch of time while also being constantly interrupted by the responsibilities you have to care physically and emotionally for another set of human beings.
But most will never be able to spend 1 hour or more a day learning a new skill because its hard to learn after you work all day.
The most important thing is that you code daily on something meaningful to you. Even finding an hour a day can be difficult, but should be doable for anyone.
What you're quite likely to have is half an hour every day, and if you do some study for a short amount of time daily, the hours will very quickly add up
> Every weekday - 1 hour post work
> Every weekend - 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday each
> Done over 4.5 months, so total = 234 hours
As an almost-40-year-old that has minor coding experience (but wants to do / learn more) I find that time is the component that's the most difficult to overcome. I have a wife, a 5 year old, a house... all of which require time. Getting 4 hours _per day_ on a Saturday / Sunday combination to be able to focus is nearly impossible for me unless I wanted to completely forgo spending time with my wife and son (and even then it might not be possible due to responsibilities as a parent / home owner).
On the flip side of this discussion: his breakdown and explanation of the walls you hit and the feeling of excitement an elation when you pass them really stuck out to me as something not often talked about enough. Learning is a commitment and requires dedication. The author did (IMO) an amazing job talking about his experience with that and how he worked to overcome those obstacles.