Ask HN: How does one stay motivated to grind through LeetCode?

Don't grind just any problems in abstract, but ones that are actually useful and applicable to the complex systems we usually (want to) build :)

I was recently chatting with the ChatGPT about it and it come up with a solid list:

#1, #3, #217, #347 - foundations

#33, #56, #76, #239 - efficiency patterns

#102, #104, #110, #200 - recursion + structure

#207, #133, #323 - graphs

#215, #23, #621, #146, #692 - heaps & scheduling

#295, #355, #460 - system simulation

What I - more or less - asked for:

"Would you say that being good at leetcode style problems is a crucial/important skill for a web software developer who wants to work on the most complex software? Why yes, why not? If so, give me a good LeetCode numbers to tackle for practice in this context"

You don't. You need to have a goal and clear understanding about why you are doing what you are doing. This is the same with pretty much all activities that require significant effort - motivation is a a brief blip that eventually withers away once you start struggling. What you need is discipline, planning, and regular routine. Plan (allocate some time each day/week) and do this regularly. Can't take it anymore? Make a coffee, take a walk, rest for a little while, take a nap, whatever, and then try again. "Motivation" is not something that you should be constantly chasing in the first place.

> How does one stay motivated to grind through LeetCode?

Isn't the prospect of upcoming technical interviews motivation enough?

Have you looked into competitive programming? It's basically the same thing but a hundred times more fun.

I find motivation from the fact that it should result in a job I could enjoy. It's similar to studying for an exam at university. You will likely not need the knowledge after, but it unlocks the true goal you want (a degree)

I get this. I couldn't grind leetcode before the LLM AI era, now even more so. It always made me feel like I'm doing a junior's work.

I guess it comes down to the kinda work you want to be doing. I myself love building products and product features and I've never really needed any leetcode knowledge for that (I don't work on products with a massive user base). I suppose if I had a problem that required a specialised algo, I'd just consult a few AI tools.

Good luck finding that motivation though.

Don't do it if you don't want to do it but also accept the consequences of this decision.

If u dont wanna do it, then why are you doing it?

I mean we all know those things are stupid and an employer who puts stock in them is defo not someone you'd wanna work for, cus they are building teams on stupid principles and clearly dont have a clue about making software.

I'd say spend your time building something you always wanted to. That will really show off your skills.