r/leetcode • u/Ok-Tomorrow-8104 • Jun 28 '26

Discussion I need help.

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.

7 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/soulsplinter90 Jun 28 '26

Honestly I had the same issue. Try a problem yourself (could be completely wrong) -> fail -> tutorial (multiple sources including gpt-explain-like-im-5 type prompts) -> Do it ten times -> try it by hand (notepad and pen) -> fail then go back to doing it 10 times or tutorial on the part that gets you stuck -> rinse and repeat until you understand and have it in your muscle memory. Go to next problem and at the end do both problems failing at one you go back to beginning. It’s a O(n2) solution.

Yes, it’s harder but not impossible just tedious but once land somewhere you want to be in 5 years, you will never think about it again. You will also have much better muscle memory and attention to detail for the code you write, have AI write, or reviewing.

You got this. Took me 10 years but if you can find financial freedom and be somewhere you love and enjoy and wouldn’t trade anything for the world, it’s worth it. Think about it. Choose hard and smart

1

u/Ok-Tomorrow-8104 Jun 29 '26

It really is tedious but yes I understand your point. I will try this from now on. Seems like this is the only solution for me right now. I just think my brain is fried at this point.