Do’s and don’ts
Practical rules for using this plan, building evidence, and preparing for interviews.
Use this page as a quick guide while you work through the plan. It explains what to prioritize, how to make progress visible, and which shortcuts usually waste time.
Start with the Operating Rules for the core schedule. Return here when you need help choosing what to do or what to stop doing.
Use the plan with care
Do: Open the week template at the start of each week. Choose a realistic schedule, complete the core work, and record what changed.
Don’t: Treat every date and target as a promise. Exams, interviews, health, and family needs can change your available time. Adjust the next week instead of trying to catch up by sacrificing sleep.
Do: Keep one tracker for practice, projects, applications, and interview feedback. Use it to spot a small next step.
Don’t: Add extra tools and dashboards unless they solve a real problem. The tracker should save time, not become another project.
Learn by solving and explaining
Do: Attempt a problem before reading its solution. Afterward, explain the idea, complexity, and edge cases in your own words. Revisit problems you could not solve without help using the revision guide.
Don’t: Count a problem as mastered because you watched someone solve it. Try it again later without notes, then check whether you can reproduce the reasoning.
Do: Practise speaking through your approach during timed work and mocks. Ask clarifying questions, state assumptions, and update your plan when new information appears.
Don’t: Chase a high problem count while skipping review. A smaller set you understand is more useful than a large set you cannot explain.
Build projects that you can defend
Do: Finish one project path before adding another. Make the core flow work, write down the design choices, and show how you tested failures and edge cases. Use the project guide to choose a scope you can complete.
Don’t: Start all the project options or add infrastructure just because it sounds advanced. A queue, cache, or database choice only helps when you can explain the problem it solves and its costs.
Do: Keep your README accurate. Mark each feature as complete, in progress, or planned. Include setup steps, an architecture diagram, and a short demo when available.
Don’t: Claim scale, users, performance, or reliability you have not measured. Never present a planned feature as working software.
Apply thoughtfully
Do: Read the role requirements and eligibility before applying. Adapt your resume so its strongest evidence is easy to find. Track the role and next step in your application tracker.
Don’t: Send the same application everywhere or apply to a role you are not eligible for just to meet a weekly count. A target is a planning aid, not a quota.
Do: Ask for a referral with a short, specific message and a clear connection to the role. Make it easy for the other person to decline.
Don’t: Treat a referral as a promise of an interview. Do not send repeated messages after one polite follow-up.
Prepare honestly for interviews
Do: Prepare real examples of teamwork, disagreement, feedback, mistakes, and learning. Explain your personal contribution, the result, and what you would change. Use the Interview Prep section to practise.
Don’t: Memorize scripts or invent metrics. If you do not know an answer, say what you know, clarify the missing information, and describe how you would investigate.
Do: Ask questions about the role, the team’s work, and expectations. Listen to the interviewer and answer the question they actually asked.
Don’t: share private work, customer information, credentials, or confidential interview questions. Use public or synthetic examples when you need to explain a sensitive system.
Protect focus and energy
Do: Keep a steady routine you can repeat. Put sleep, meals, movement, and scheduled commitments into your plan. Reduce optional work when interviews or exams take priority.
Don’t: compare your progress to someone else’s timetable or social media. Use your own practice results and feedback to choose the next adjustment.
Do: Review progress weekly and make one or two changes at a time. If you miss a task, move or drop it deliberately.
Don’t: carry every unfinished task into the next week. That turns a flexible plan into a growing backlog.
Common mistakes
- Starting another resource or project before finishing the current core task.
- Counting activity instead of checking whether you can explain what you learned.
- Hiding unfinished work or overstating results on a resume or in an interview.
- Trying to recover lost time by cutting sleep or skipping all breaks.
- Keeping a strategy unchanged when your practice results show it is not working.
When you are unsure, choose the smallest action that improves your skill or makes your work easier to review. Use the readiness scorecard to decide what needs attention next.