3–4 problems in the week’s pattern. 25 min timebox per medium before looking at hints. Log each one with the DSA Problem template
09:00–09:30
🔁 Review
Anki + yesterday’s notes (spaced repetition)
10:00–12:30
📖 Core study + ⚙️ internals
Book chapter / docs for the week’s topic + one internals section with its ”🔬 Prove it” experiment. Notes in your own words in Notes/
14:00–16:30
🛠️ Build
The week’s 🎯 assignment (Orbit) or 🔬 lab. Start every experiment with a written prediction (Cognitive Drills)
16:30–17:00
✍️ Journal
Daily note: what I learned, what confused me, one question to research
Weekend
Saturday (~5 h): 1 system design case study (45-min timed, then compare with a reference) · 🧩 pattern kata (90 min, Design Patterns Roadmap) · 🧠 blank-page design + constraint flip · LeetCode biweekly contest when there is one
Sunday (~3 h): LeetCode weekly contest · self-grade the assignment (Grading Rubric) · Weekly Review (template) · 7-day self-review of last week’s code/ADR · plan next week · publish 1 short post
Rules that compound
Build the same day you learn. Theory that isn’t applied within 24h fades.
Explain it in writing. If you can’t write a 5-line explanation in Notes/, you don’t know it yet (Feynman).
Timebox and move on. Stuck > 45 min? Write down exactly what’s blocking you, then look it up.
Revisit with spaced repetition. Tag hard problems/concepts #revise; redo them on day 3, 7, and 21.
Measure, don’t guess. Track problems solved, contest rating, and hours in the weekly review.
No tutorial hell. Max 30% watching, 70% doing.
Rest. Take one half-day completely off. Burnout costs more than a skipped block.
Weekly metrics (copy into each Weekly Review)
DSA solved: __ / target · Contest rank: __
Deep-study hours: __ · Build hours: __
Notes written: __ · Posts/READMEs: __
One thing I can now explain that I couldn’t last week: __