Your August SQL Plan: 15 Minutes a Day for 2 Weeks to Get Started

Want to learn SQL but feel like you don’t have the time? This August, commit just 15 minutes a day and build real skills without the overwhelm. With this simple 2-week plan and the right tools, you’ll go from zero to writing queries before the month ends.

August is a great time to reset, recharge — and maybe even learn something new. But what if you could pick up an in-demand skill without overloading your calendar?

If you've ever wanted to learn SQL but thought you didn’t have the time, here’s the good news: You only need 15 minutes a day for the next 2 weeks.

This simple, beginner-friendly plan is built around short, hands-on lessons from LearnSQL.com. It’s perfect for anyone who’s curious about data, wants to level up professionally, or is just looking to try something new before the busy season kicks in.

Why Learn SQL in August?

August is one of the best months to invest in yourself:

• It’s quieter — Many teams and schools slow down before the fall rush.
• It builds momentum — You’ll have a skill in your toolkit before Q4.
• It’s career-proof — SQL is used everywhere: from marketing to finance to product teams.

And if you're looking for a skill with staying power? SQL has been going strong for over 40 years — and it's not going anywhere. It’s essential for anyone working with data, even outside of tech roles.

Can You Really Learn SQL in Just 15 Minutes a Day?

Yes — if you focus on consistency, not cramming.

This plan is built around microlearning: short, focused practice sessions. You’ll get hands-on experience inside your browser (no downloads, no setup) using the interactive courses at LearnSQL.com. The platform is designed for total beginners.

All you need to do is show up for 15 minutes a day.

Your 2-Week SQL Starter Plan

This 14-day plan uses the SQL Basics course from LearnSQL.com — a structured, interactive course that guides you from “What is SQL?” to writing real-world queries.

Goal: Learn how to read, write, and run SQL queries using real databases — no previous experience needed.

WEEK 1: Learn the Fundamentals

📅 Day 1: Getting Started

Section: A little bit on databases
Exercises: 1–6 (6 exercises)
Topics:

• What SQL is and how databases work
• Tables, rows, columns

Goal: Understand the big picture and run your first query

📅 Day 2: Your First Queries

Section: Selecting from one table
Exercises: 1–8 (8 exercises)
Topics:

• Writing a simple query
• SELECT *, selecting specific columns
• Basic WHERE filtering
• Comparison operators: =, <, >, !=, <=, >=

Goal: Learn to retrieve specific data from a single table using basic SELECT and WHERE clauses.

Goal: Retrieve data from a single table, find only the data you need from a table

📅 Day 3: Filtering and Sorting

Section: Selecting from one table starting from “Logic” till the end

Exercises: 9–22 (14 exercises)
Topics:

• Logical operators (AND, OR, NOT)
• Pattern matching with LIKE and %, _
• Filtering NULL values using IS NULL and IS NOT NULL
• Simple computations

Goal: Write complex filters using Boolean logic, handle real-world data inconsistencies
📅 Day 4: Your First JOIN

Section: Querying more than one table
Exercises: 1-11 (11 exercises)
Topics:

• Selecting data from two tables
• JOIN keyword
• Primary and foreign keys
• Table and column aliases

Goal: Pull related data from two tables

📅 Day 5: JOIN Practice

Section: Querying more than one table - Practice
Exercises: 10–13 (4 exercises)
Section: Aggregation and grouping, section “Ordering”
Exercises: 1–5 (5 exercises)

Topics:

• Review selecting data from two tables
• Sorting results with ORDER BY

Goal: Prepare clean, structured results for reports or analysis.

📅 Day 6: Summarizing Data

Section: Aggregation and grouping – “Eliminating duplicate results” and “Aggregation”
Exercises: 6–14 (8 exercises)
Topics:

• Eliminating duplicate results with DISTINCT
• Summarizing data with functions COUNT(), SUM(), AVG(), MIN(), MAX()

Goal: Summarize data with simple statistics

📅 Day 7: Filtering Groups

Section: Aggregation and grouping – “Grouping” and “HAVING”
Exercises: 15–23 (8 exercises)
Topics:

• Grouping results with GROUP BY
• Filtering grouped results
• HAVING vs WHERE

Goal: Generate grouped insights (e.g. sales by category)

WEEK 2: Real SQL Skills in Action

📅 Day 8: More JOIN Types

Section: More on JOINs
Exercises: 1–14 (14 exercises)
Topics:

• Review JOIN
• INNER JOIN,
• LEFT JOIN, RIGHT JOIN

Goal: Learn key JOIN types to combine data effectively.

📅 Day 9: Complex JOIN Scenarios

Section: More on JOINs
Exercises: 14–22 (8 exercises)
Topics:

• FULL JOIN, OUTER JOIN, NATURAL JOIN
• Table aliases
  

Goal: Choose the right JOIN type for each situation

📅 Day 10: Intro to Subqueries

Section: Subqueries
Exercises: 1–11 (11 exercises)
Topics:

• Introduction to subqueries
• Very simple subqueries
• Subqueries with IN, ALL, and ANY

Goal: Learn to ask more complex questions with SQL

📅 Day 11: Correlated subqueries

Section: Subqueries – “Correlated subqueries”
Exercises: 12–18 (6 exercises)
Topics:

• Correlated subqueries

Goal: Learn how to use correlated subqueries to filter data based on related rows.

📅 Day 12: Review of subqueries

Section: Subqueries – “Other subqueries”
Exercises: 18–22 (5 exercises)

Topics:

• Review all subquery types
• Subqueries in FROM and SELECT
  

Goal: Understand how to use subqueries in SELECT and FROM to create dynamic result sets.

📅 Day 13: Working with Sets

Section: Set operations
Exercises: 1–12 (12 exercises)
Topics:

• Combining results with UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, EXCEPT
• Removing duplicates in set operations

Goal: Learn to combine results from multiple queries.

📅 Day 14:Final Review

Section: Quiz
Exercises: 1–9 (9 exercises)
Topics:

• Review all concepts: SELECT, WHERE, GROUP BY, JOINs, subqueries
• Complete the final course quiz
• Download your certificate 🎓

Goal: Finish the course and get confident in your SQL skills

What’s Next?

In just 2 weeks, you’ve built a solid SQL foundation — writing queries, joining tables, and analyzing data. From here, you can explore real datasets, build dashboards, and dive into advanced topics like subqueries and analytics.

To keep going, we recommend the SQL From A to Z track — a complete learning path to take your skills to the next level.

Stay consistent:
 – Block 15 minutes a day
 – Track your progress
 – Don’t stress about perfection — just keep going

👉 Start the SQL Basics course today and make August the month you finally learned SQL.