Ten days in, the win isn't more questions solved or more calls — it's that doing the work is starting to require less effort.
Day 10 felt like a genuinely good day.
After the struggles of the previous week, the biggest change I noticed today wasn't the number of questions I solved or the number of recruiter calls I received. It was my ability to focus.
Earlier, I could sit for around eight hours but realistically focus for only four to four and a half. Today, that number felt closer to five hours. It's still a small improvement, but what matters more is that I'm able to get more quality work done without constantly forcing myself to keep going.
That feels like progress.
I also received one recruiter call today, and hopefully that turns into another interview next week. I already have two interviews scheduled for the coming week, so I'm trying to use this time to prepare as well as I can.
I've also started noticing a pattern in my interviews. The first rounds aren't where I'm struggling the most. The real challenge comes in the second rounds, where the conversations move towards system design, architecture, and giving concrete answers around the decisions I've made.
That's where most of my attention is going right now.
I solved around five LeetCode questions today, although the difficulty and quality of the questions are currently a little lower than I'd ideally like. Alongside DSA, system design continues to be one of the major areas I'm focusing on.
The second half of the day also went into optimizing my Instahyre, LinkedIn, resume, and website. I'm still experimenting with how I present myself and trying to improve the chances of getting noticed by the right opportunities.
But there's another thought that's been sitting in the back of my mind throughout all of this.
AI.
Even though my immediate goal is finding a new job, I still feel a strong pull towards learning more about AI. It's becoming increasingly important, and I don't want the job hunt to completely consume the time I could spend understanding where the industry is heading.
Once I get my daily focus time to a more sustainable level, I want to start creating small gaps in the day specifically for AI learning.
Hopefully, over the next couple of weeks, I can get there.
For now, I'm happy with today's progress.
Not because everything is suddenly working, but because doing the work is starting to require less effort.
That's a small change — but after ten days, small changes are starting to feel meaningful.
Day 10 done. Two interviews ahead. More preparation tomorrow.
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