Ask HN: How do you make time for side projects and Leetcode grinding

For me, it's all about enforcing WLB. I work a maximum of 40h/wk and to be frank sometimes I work an hour or two less.

Let me put it this way - I know I cannot compete with people who are able and (for some reason) willing to work 60+ hours / week. So I don't try. Maybe I'm lucky and am charismatic (I dunno about that) or smart (also dunno about that, I mean I get by, but -) enough that I excel with fewer hours, but also I think a lot of it is just setting boundaries and using ninja moves to just be more effective instead of wasting time.

Many of the people who work longs hours are either not actually working during them, or are working but are so eager to die for capitalism that they don't try to solve the problem in any other way than death marching.

Example. A coworker had been death marching for 2 days on a project and I was getting worried about him (he likes being the coding hero but also has mental health issues.) So I pressed a bit here and there in the background and find out all Product actually wanted to do is something rather simpler and that they could do just by using a different feature in a particular odd way. So I had my manager suggest to my coworker that he investigate this way. He left work and went to bed on time that night. And I do this for myself. I don't shirk work, but if someone is in a rush and you simply present to them "take longer" or "cut scope to focus on what you really care about", it usually goes well.

Will I eventually get dinged for not being willing to death march? Maybe. I haven't had to do it yet so far. And in the instances where projects ran late, it hasnt been for reasons that even doubling my hours would've helped.

So anyway, I know it can feel like it isn't as simple as "just don't work such long hours" but also sometimes it is (just being willing to set boundaries).

So, with that, even with 3 kids aged 3, 2, and under-1, I still have a few hours each night to spend with my kids, wife, and do a little bit of coding here and there.

Speaking as someone in a similar position, it’s not possible. You can have young kids or have time. Not both.

Which, sucks, given that what it sounds like you actually want rather than time to grind leetcode and do side projects is to find a different job.

But the way the industry is set up effectively precludes you from doing that, because as you’re aware, you need to have time to do stuff outside of work to get and prepare for interviews.

You shouldn't need to spend a lot of time on leetcode as a senior engineer. I do one leetcode problem every week from lists of recommend problems. You will realistically have 40 min of time to work on the problem, and you will go slower during the interview, so if I don't get an optimal solution in 30 min I give up and look at a solution. I'll spend at most another 30 min filling the gaps in my knowledge that will let me solve a similar problem next time I see one. I then add the problem to a queue of past problems I've failed. I've been doing this for years, but if you're just starting out you might need to cram more.

For side projects, I don't do them and have never had issues with that. I spend time reading stuff on my phone during downtime, which has been enough to keep me up to date on stuff.

Why not try to spend more time with your kids instead? They need you. Seems like a much better “investment” than grinding Leetcode.

And never forget: It’s a marathon, not a sprint.