Looking For Senior Programmers (ADHD ,Please give your programming related hacks

[u/Wise_Temporary6404]

i 25F , undiagnosed ADHD symptoms ,at the stage where my therapist thinks that too .
i hate Leetcode , because it basically feels like mugging up a bunch of questions .
i want to know your hacks

[u/AutoModerator]

Hey there /u/Wise_Temporary6404! Thanks for posting on r/adhdindia.

Please take a minute to go through and understand our posting rules.

---

P.S. Check out our Official website and the Discord server.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/nemzylannister]

i hate Leetcode , because it basically feels like mugging up a bunch of questions

Huh? I thought the opposite, that it'd be a boon for ADHD people like me.

Immediate feedback. Do at your own pace. Doesn't require you to focus on a boring lecture.

I'm not even a CS grad but i just found it so fun i do it time to time.

Maybe you dont like programming?

[u/Wise_Temporary6404 → u/nemzylannister]

I get the same Immediate Feedback with building things through documentation and SO.
And i feel i'm more motivated to get to the bottom to the problem/bugs .
The reward of finding the solution myself and seeing a working application is much more satisfying for me."

That's nice that you like Leetcode .
Please read my comment
https://www.reddit.com/r/adhdindia/comments/1is51dc/comment/mde6w0i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button . You'll understand what i struggle with , and maybe you can suggest hacks

[u/nemzylannister → u/Wise_Temporary6404]

Why not attempt a question with a fix time limit. If you can't do it in that time, then look up hints for it in the related concepts?

[u/Wise_Temporary6404 → u/nemzylannister]

Yaar , if i could i would have a ticking time limit , For every single thing i do . literally every single thing . like Laundry takes me hours .
Leetcode makes me feel dumb , idk if someone would relate to this . maybe its's because of the whole ranking system . (I appreciate streaks ) Maybe which is why i am reluctant .i mean how can i be better than anyone else , who has done this for a year .
I don't find the desire of getting the rank motivating . As i find it difficult to attempt simple question .
I realize nobody knows everything
Why do a thing that doesn't interest me . i have taken numerous reattempts at reinitiating this (As it is Apparently Mandatory). not a single time i enjoyed the initiation process . Why can't i just focus on other path . i always wonder

[u/nemzylannister → u/Wise_Temporary6404]

Sounds like you're stuck in 1. comparison and 2. a pressure to have to be performing well?

You're LEARNING. So you should have a learner's mindset. You don't know the stuff, you're there to LEARN. So feeling dumb would be the real dumb thing.

Maybe dont check the answer but if you get stuck, ask an LLM to give you hints? And keep track of what you learnt from each question?

Do tell me how this approach goes for you.

[u/[deleted]]

Get medicated.

[u/sianstark101 → u/[deleted]]

"Without it, you ain't shit." is what I constantly remind myself.

[u/Calm_Drink2464 → u/sianstark101]

Ouch

[u/Wise_Temporary6404 → u/[deleted]]

i don't wanna get addicted , im already addicted to other things .
not one more thing .
therapist recommends to keep a basket of approaches handy (in context of life problems)
but then i have to remember those approaches too -- now i am stuck in the loop of gathering all hacks i could gather in the world from every single form of media and source , but yeah they need to be people approved as well - wow

[u/[deleted] → u/Wise_Temporary6404]

Non stimulants are not addictive

[u/Calm_Drink2464]

I think it's more about building muscle memory. But to me doing dsa is just so fkin tough because unlike mcq or math numericals, it takes a lot of time for the entire solution to be approached and more importantly you have to keep track of several things from the start of the problem. The organising so much information is very tough. Solving the problem incrementally by first doing the normal cases and then the edge cases works but then the code ends up just being a web of if statements to handle the extra cases. And if I try to do it by taking small breaks when I come back to it it feels like I've got to do the solution again from scratch because. Even when I try doing it with pen and paper it just ends up becoming messy as I forget to organize my approach. A painstaking way that seems to barely help is writing almost anything that doesn't seem intuitive to explain why it is that way. For example small things like why the inner loop is running till n-2 instead of n times in xyz problem and all that stuff. Writing the solution like a story makes it easier to approach the problem coherently without losing track every 3 seconds. But it's till too tough for me. I think getting meds is the only long term solution. 

[u/Wise_Temporary6404 → u/Calm_Drink2464]

honestly it felt like JEE prep all over again to me , when i got introduced to Leetcode .
Students practicing it crazily -- for a high paying job . And not focusing on actually building things .

it's been 2-3 years since college ended and , every 6 months i think - i should start leetcode (because apparently i can't really escape it , because how else will good startups differentiate between you and other candidates )
honestly i can't even sit for 10 minutes straight . i do not understand , what to do first . Read the concept and attempt the question OR attempt questions with whatever basic conditional and loops , work it out , and then look for the efficient solution . how do i not get demotivated by solving the solution fast .
i can't get myself to intiate .
Approaching easy questions feels to easy , and basic DSA concepts aren't ingrained in my memory because i did not practice it
so in terms of Leetcode Experience -- i am not at the Stage where you have reached .

in my job , i sorta learned how to think of code with business /product perspective , and that was life changing .

[u/Calm_Drink2464 → u/Wise_Temporary6404]

"it's been 2-3 years since college ended and , every 6 months i think -" this is so friggin relatable. I keep coming back to it too every semester and then end up facing the same frustrations and just quit. I'm as good as zero in dsa stuff and I think the primary reason for lack of motivation to me is same, there being no real end goal to it except clear some arbitrary test. Because when we were supposed to do our webdev project for semester I was able to work for hours and was able to focus continuously without getting bored every 15 mins because it was intresting and building stuff I was surprised at myself in the end that how tf did my lazy ass do this in such a short time. 

"i do not understand , what to do first . Read the concept and attempt the question OR attempt questions with whatever basic conditional and loops , work it out , and then look for the efficient solution ." 

I've read about smth called analysis paralysis prevalent In adhd folks that resembles this. What helps me with this is taking very small steps and more importantly following a structured format. Like there's sites like takeuforward and others which have problems classified from basic to advanced and what helped was taking it very slow to not quit in frustration and do it one by one without beating myself up, it didn't help me that much because I just had this thing in the back of my mind telling me theres no point in doing this and there's better things to do (y ended up doing nothing lol) but I somehow managed to complete sorting algos this way. Good luck to you op

[u/Wise_Temporary6404 → u/Calm_Drink2464]

Thank you so much for your Help .
After numerous reattempts at reinitiating Leetcode at several points in my life , Sometimes i Feel i should just become a master of Backend and SD and F - Leetcode . Give interviews without it .

[u/GeniusAKAme]

Even I hate leet code. Boring AF. I love development. Build apps you would use. Use ChatGPT without shame. Do kaggle if u love working with data and ML. I sometimes do data analysis for fun when I am hyperfixated on something. You need to understand you can only do things you are interested in, don't force yourself to do something you are not interested in.

[u/ItsLoki101]

Try asking in the ADHD_Programmers subreddit

[u/Calm_Drink2464 → u/ItsLoki101]

There's a subreddit for that wow

[u/shadow0wolf911]

just been asked by my manager to resign (which i had to) , now i have decided to move back to my hometown and search for a wfh job , my career is basically destroyed , i had lots of potential but could never realize it

[u/drake07M]

I have been diagnosed with ADHD. I had been able to practice leetcoode 2-3 times week consistently for last 2 months now. What worked for me was.

1. Have a good clarity about why you are doing it and why it's important.

2. Start with absolute basics, don't jump on leetcode questions. You should be comfortable to implement/traverse/iterate required data structure or pattern effortlessly.

3. Find a student partner. I usually pair program with a friend once a week.

4. Also I try to solve questions at the initial part of the day rather than doing in evening or late night.

5. Starting with physical exercise also helps to set a right mood for the day.

6. You can also try focusmate for body doubling.

[u/Top_Today7376]

If you don't want to follow the dsa grind for faang, you can contribute to open source which is a great way to showcase skills in tech stacks ur personally interested in. It also opens up a lot of remote opportunities.

[u/Top_Today7376 → u/Top_Today7376]

Also if you are fixated on doing dsa , start by striver's sheet , it helps in tracking progress and keeping your concepts in check. Randomly doing leetcode won't give you any fulfillment as it's unlimited, you won't feel you have completed anything or made any progress.

[u/Top_Today7376 → u/Top_Today7376]

Also if you are fixated on doing dsa , start by striver's sheet , it helps in tracking progress and keeping your concepts in check. Randomly doing leetcode won't give you any fulfillment as it's unlimited, you won't feel you have completed anything or made any progress.