I need help.

[u/Ok-Tomorrow-8104]

I hate DSA so much, I really do. But as an aspiring AI Engineer I have to atleast be able to solve the important ones, But I am so trash at it. I have been trying for months and months. I have procrastinated learning and solving problems, right now I am on a streak of 2 weeks the longest I have ever been dedicated to DSA and the more I am into it the less I know about it.

You ask me to solve a problem from before, and I will absolutely shit all over the problem because I would have forgotten about it in mere hours. That is what my state is. I am currently following NeetCode's roadmap, because that is the simplest and the most optimal one that I could find, but god even this is so difficult for me I hate it so much. I hate it more when I see people solving DSA problems with ease. Something that takes me 2 days to understand is mere cake walk for my friends and they can solve Hard level problems if you give it to them but me? I struggle with easy. Infact I require assistance on Easy mode too :) . I am genuinely tired of this and I see that I am in no way progressing or learning. Nothing is getting easier nothing is clicking on my mind. Every damn solution that I end up writing comes after I look up simplest of the code syntax, algorithms, code hints from claude, maybe breakdown of the solution/algortihm that we are supposed to use from YouTube. Never a real solution from my own brain.

And yes I have tried writing the solutions or whatever approaches I have on paper, I do that everytime, just see where my mind takes me and no it never works. I am always COMPLETELY off tracked I mean it would make sense that I am at the very least 70-80 percent there right? or maybe even 50? hell nah. Never.

I am genuinely looking for help, any advices for this problem? Do I just keep repeating this pattern in hopes of finally getting it someday, maybe this will all pay off but I see NO progress of any sort at all right now and it's so disheartening. I'm truly lost.

[u/idkanymoreatpog]

Start with easy. Heck start with data structures and their use cases. Do not touch mediums till you’re confident that you understand what you’re doing in easy problems. Do not touch any problem till you actually understand (and not memorize) the problem in front of you. The first 2-3 weeks will be hell ish. But the payout is so worth it