Ankit Kashyap

FAANG_Prep_Life_Plan@20260510_174704

user: for next 3 weeks I want to focus on my life and prepare for FAANG interview…review the plan [Context: Notes: index.md] [Timestamp: 2026/05/10 17:47:04]

ai: Your index plan is strong in intent: health, routine, coding, system design, behavioral, and DotNet are all covered. But for a FAANG-focused 3-week sprint, I’d tighten it so the plan becomes more measurable, interview-specific, and sustainable.

High-level review

What’s good

  • You are treating health as part of interview prep, which is correct.
  • You have daily time blocks instead of vague goals.
  • You included coding, system design, behavioral, and DotNet.
  • You have a defined sprint window.
  • You are thinking about job applications and LinkedIn, not just studying.

What needs adjustment

  • The timeframe says “11 to 31 June” — June has 30 days. Also if this is “next 3 weeks,” define the exact dates clearly.
  • The coding goals are slightly unclear: “3x DP and Graph - 64 from N250 / 42 from N150” needs a clearer weekly target.
  • 6 hours of study daily plus office plus exercise may be too aggressive unless you protect sleep.
  • Behavioral prep should include STAR stories, not only book reading/content generation.
  • System design needs practice output: diagrams, tradeoffs, mock answers.
  • Job applications should be scheduled into the plan, not left as a general item.
  • You need weekly checkpoints and mock interviews.

Suggested sprint structure

Sprint goal

For the next 3 weeks:

  • Build FAANG interview readiness across coding, system design, behavioral, and job pipeline.
  • Maintain sleep, exercise, and nutrition so performance does not collapse.
  • Finish with measurable outputs: solved questions, written system design notes, behavioral stories, and applications sent.

Revised 3-week priorities

AreaTargetReview
Coding90-120 quality problemsFocus on patterns, not random solving
System Design10-12 designsWrite notes and speak answers aloud
Behavioral8-10 STAR storiesMust be interview-ready, not just reflective
DotNet15-21 focused sessionsKeep it, but don’t let it consume FAANG prep
HealthSleep, exercise, weight, supplementsNon-negotiable baseline
Applications30-50 targeted applications/referralsAdd daily/alternate-day block

Your timetable is good, but I’d modify it slightly.

Morning

  • 7 AM - 8 AM: Wake up, breakfast, coffee, water
  • 8 AM - 9 AM: DotNet / CS fundamentals
  • 9 AM - 10 AM: Office round 1
  • 10 AM - 11 AM: Exercise + shower + lunch prep
  • 11 AM - 1 PM: Office round 2

Afternoon

  • 1 PM - 2 PM: Lunch + LinkedIn/applications/referrals
  • 2 PM - 4 PM: Coding deep work
  • 4 PM - 4:30 PM: Break
  • 4:30 PM - 6 PM: Coding review / patterns / mistakes log

Evening

  • 6 PM - 8 PM: Dinner + walk + reset
  • 8 PM - 9 PM: System design
  • 9 PM - 9:45 PM: Behavioral / mock answers / STAR stories
  • 9:45 PM - 10:30 PM: Light review, tomorrow planning
  • 10:30 PM - 11 PM: Wind down and sleep

This is more balanced than 6 raw study hours. The goal is not just hours; it is interview conversion.

Weekly plan

Week 1: Foundation and pattern locking

Coding

Focus on:

  • Arrays / strings
  • Hash maps
  • Two pointers
  • Sliding window
  • Binary search
  • Trees basics
  • Graph BFS/DFS basics
  • DP basics

Target:

  • 30-35 problems
  • Make a mistake log
  • Re-solve failed problems after 48 hours

System design

Do 3-4 designs:

  • URL shortener
  • Rate limiter
  • Notification system
  • News feed or timeline

For each design, write:

  • Requirements
  • APIs
  • Data model
  • High-level design
  • Scaling bottlenecks
  • Tradeoffs

Behavioral

Create 4 core stories:

  • Conflict
  • Failure
  • Leadership
  • High-impact project

Use STAR format:

  • Situation
  • Task
  • Action
  • Result

Applications

  • Update resume
  • Update LinkedIn
  • Make target company list
  • Start referral outreach

Week 2: Intensity and interview simulation

Coding

Focus on:

  • Graphs
  • DP
  • Backtracking
  • Heaps
  • Intervals
  • Trees advanced

Target:

  • 35-40 problems
  • At least 5 timed sessions
  • At least 2 mock coding interviews

System design

Do 4 designs:

  • Chat system
  • File storage system
  • Distributed cache
  • Ride sharing / food delivery / ticket booking

Practice speaking for 35-45 minutes per design.

Behavioral

Add 4 more stories:

  • Ambiguity
  • Ownership
  • Disagreement
  • Mentoring/collaboration

Also prepare:

  • “Tell me about yourself”
  • “Why this company?”
  • “Why now?”
  • “Most challenging project”
  • “Biggest mistake”

Applications

  • Apply to 10-15 roles
  • Ask for 5-10 referrals
  • Track everything in a table

Week 3: Mock interview and polish

Coding

Focus on:

  • Mixed timed sets
  • Weak areas
  • Re-solving missed problems
  • Explaining out loud

Target:

  • 25-35 problems
  • 3-5 mock coding interviews
  • 10 re-solves from mistake log

System design

Do 3-4 final designs:

  • Search autocomplete
  • Metrics/logging system
  • Video streaming
  • Payment system

Behavioral

Polish final answers.

You should be able to answer:

  • Tell me about yourself
  • A time you failed
  • A time you handled conflict
  • A time you showed leadership
  • A time you worked under pressure
  • A time you had to learn quickly
  • A project you are proud of
  • Why FAANG / why Microsoft / why this role

Applications

  • Apply to another 15-20 roles
  • Follow up on referrals
  • Prepare recruiter call script

Coding plan adjustment

Your note says:

  • “3x DP and Graph - 64 from N250 / 42 from N150”
  • “2x N150 track - 40 questions”

I’d rewrite this more clearly as:

### Coding
- Daily: 4-5 problems minimum
- Weekly: 30-40 problems
- Total sprint target: 100 problems
- Focus:
	- Week 1: Arrays, strings, trees, graph basics, DP basics
	- Week 2: DP, graphs, backtracking, heaps, intervals
	- Week 3: Timed mixed practice + re-solving mistakes
- Maintain mistake log:
	- Problem
	- Pattern
	- Mistake
	- Correct approach
	- Re-solve date

The most important thing: don’t just “finish questions.” Build pattern recall.

Add a mistake log

This is probably the highest ROI addition.

Example:

ProblemPatternMistakeFixRe-solve Date
Word LadderBFSDidn’t model graph correctlyUse generic intermediate states+2 days
House Robber IIDPForgot circular caseSplit into two linear cases+2 days

Add a daily scorecard

At the bottom of each day, track:

## Daily Scorecard
- Sleep: 
- Exercise:
- Coding problems solved:
- Coding review done:
- System design:
- Behavioral:
- Applications/referrals:
- Biggest mistake today:
- Plan for tomorrow:

This will make the sprint real.

Important correction: behavioral prep

Your current note says:

### Behavioral
- Book reading and content gen - 1 hr

For FAANG, I would change this to:

### Behavioral
- 30 mins: STAR story writing
- 30 mins: answer practice out loud
- Build 8-10 reusable stories
- Record or time answers 2-3x/week

Book reading is useful, but interview performance comes from practiced stories.

Important correction: system design

Your current note says:

### System Design
- Hello Interview / tracker - 1 hr
- Notes writing - 30 mins

That’s good, but make it outcome-based:

### System Design
- Daily: 1 design concept or 1 full design
- Weekly: 3-4 complete designs
- For each design:
	- Requirements
	- APIs
	- Data model
	- Architecture
	- Scaling bottlenecks
	- Tradeoffs
	- Failure modes

Health plan review

This part is very good:

  • Sleep is the best performance drug
  • Exercise
  • Water
  • Supplements
  • Weight target

I’d add:

### Health Non-negotiables
- Sleep: 7+ hours
- Exercise: 45-60 mins
- Water: 2 bottles minimum
- No heavy food before deep study
- Walk after dinner
- Weekly weight check

If sleep breaks, coding quality will drop quickly.

Suggested edit for your note

You could replace the “Current Sprint” section with this:

## Current Sprint - FAANG Lock In
 
### Timeframe
- 3 weeks: [Start Date] to [End Date]
 
### Sprint Goals
- Solve 90-120 coding problems
- Complete 10-12 system design case studies
- Prepare 8-10 behavioral STAR stories
- Apply/reach out for 30-50 roles/referrals
- Maintain sleep, exercise, diet, and hydration
 
### Coding
- Daily: 4-5 problems
- Weekly: 30-40 problems
- Focus:
	- Week 1: Core patterns
	- Week 2: DP, graphs, advanced patterns
	- Week 3: Timed mocks and re-solving mistakes
- Maintain mistake log
- Re-solve failed problems after 48 hours
 
### System Design
- Daily: 1 hour
- Weekly: 3-4 complete designs
- Use Hello Interview/tracker
- Write notes for every design
- Practice speaking answers aloud
 
### Behavioral
- Daily: 45-60 mins
- Build 8-10 STAR stories
- Practice:
	- Tell me about yourself
	- Conflict
	- Failure
	- Leadership
	- Ambiguity
	- Ownership
	- High-impact project
 
### Applications
- Daily/alternate day: 30-60 mins
- Update resume and LinkedIn
- Apply to 30-50 roles
- Ask for referrals
- Track applications
 
### DotNet
- Daily: 1 hour
- Continue 100 things in DotNet series
- Keep it focused and bounded
 
### Health
- Sleep 7+ hours
- Exercise daily
- Water bottle twice: morning and post-lunch
- Supplements: B12, Iron, Mg, O3, Vit D
- Weekly weight check

Final verdict

Your plan is directionally very good, but it needs to become more measurable and interview-output driven.

The biggest upgrades are:

  • Add exact sprint dates.
  • Convert goals into weekly numbers.
  • Add coding mistake log.
  • Add mock interviews.
  • Replace passive behavioral prep with STAR story practice.
  • Make system design output-based.
  • Add application/referral tracking.
  • Protect sleep aggressively.

If you follow this for 3 weeks seriously, you’ll be in a much better position for FAANG-style interviews. [Timestamp: 2026/05/10 17:47:50]

user: Ok, howz this now [Context: Notes: index.md] [Timestamp: 2026/05/10 17:51:16]

user: i will have more time in June - this is only for next 3 weeks [Context: Notes: index.md] [Timestamp: 2026/05/10 17:51:41]

ai: This is much better structurally — index now has the right major pillars for a serious 3-week FAANG sprint:

  • Health baseline
  • Fixed daily schedule
  • Coding
  • System design
  • Behavioral
  • DotNet
  • Job applications / LinkedIn

The plan is solid, but I’d make a few final tweaks so it becomes execution-proof.

Overall verdict

Good plan, 7.5/10.
With a few measurable targets and review checkpoints, it becomes 9/10.

Right now it has the right direction, but some items still need clearer daily/weekly outputs.

What looks strong

1. Health is included

This is very good:

  • Sleep
  • Exercise
  • Water
  • Supplements
  • Weight goal
  • Morning routine

For interview prep, energy management matters a lot. Keeping this at the top is correct.

2. Timetable is realistic enough

The structure is good:

  • Morning DotNet
  • Office blocks
  • Exercise
  • Afternoon study
  • Evening study
  • Sleep wind-down

This gives you a repeatable daily rhythm instead of deciding each day.

3. Coding + System Design + Behavioral are all present

That’s the right FAANG prep mix.

Most people over-index on LeetCode and ignore behavioral/system design. You’re covering all three.

Main issues to fix

1. Fix the sprint dates

You currently have:

3 Weeks - 11 to 31 June

June has 30 days, so update this.

Better:

### Timeframe
- 3 Weeks: 11 June to 30 June

Or if it starts from today, write exact dates:

### Timeframe
- 3 Weeks: [Start Date] to [End Date]

2. Make coding target clearer

Current coding section:

- 3x DP and Graph - 64 from N250 / 42 from N150
- 2x N150 track - 40 questions

This is a little hard to understand during execution.

Rewrite it as:

### Coding
- Total target: 100 questions in 3 weeks
- Daily target: 4-5 questions
- Weekly target: 30-35 questions
- Main focus:
	- DP
	- Graphs
	- Neetcode 150
	- Neetcode 250
- Re-solve incorrect/slow questions after 48 hours
- Maintain mistake log

The biggest improvement: add a mistake log. That will compound your learning.

3. Add mock interviews

For FAANG prep, you need simulation.

Add this:

### Mock Interviews
- Week 1: 1 coding mock
- Week 2: 2 coding mocks + 1 system design mock
- Week 3: 2 coding mocks + 2 system design mocks + 1 behavioral mock

Even if you do them alone, speak out loud and time yourself.

4. Behavioral should be STAR-focused

Current:

### Behavioral
- Book reading and content gen - 1 hr

This is useful, but not interview-specific enough.

Change to:

### Behavioral
- Daily: 45-60 mins
- Build 8-10 STAR stories
- Practice answers out loud
- Core stories:
	- Tell me about yourself
	- Conflict
	- Failure
	- Leadership
	- Ownership
	- Ambiguity
	- High-impact project
	- Tight deadline
	- Disagreement with teammate
	- Learning something quickly

Book reading can stay, but it should not replace answer practice.

5. System design needs outputs

Current:

### System Design
- Hello Interview / tracker - 1 hr
- Notes writing - 30 mins

Good, but make it measurable:

### System Design
- Daily: 1-1.5 hrs
- Weekly: 3-4 full designs
- Total target: 10-12 designs
- For each design, write:
	- Requirements
	- APIs
	- Data model
	- High-level design
	- Bottlenecks
	- Scaling strategy
	- Tradeoffs
	- Failure handling

Suggested systems:

  • URL shortener
  • Rate limiter
  • Notification system
  • Chat system
  • News feed
  • File storage
  • Distributed cache
  • Search autocomplete
  • Metrics/logging system
  • Video streaming
  • Payment system
  • Ticket booking

6. Add job application targets

You have “Apply jobs” and LinkedIn in the timetable, which is good. But make it numerical.

Add:

### Applications
- Daily: 30-60 mins during lunch block
- Weekly:
	- 10-15 applications
	- 5 referral requests
	- 5 recruiter messages
- Total sprint target:
	- 30-45 applications
	- 15 referral requests
	- 15 recruiter messages

This makes the pipeline real.

7. Add daily scorecard

This is probably the best practical addition.

Add this template:

## Daily Scorecard
- Sleep:
- Weight:
- Exercise:
- Water:
- Coding questions:
- Revisions:
- System design:
- Behavioral:
- DotNet:
- Applications/referrals:
- Biggest mistake:
- Tomorrow priority:

This will help you avoid vague progress.

Suggested final version for your sprint section

You can replace your current sprint section with this:

## Current Sprint - Summer - Lock In
 
### Timeframe
- 3 Weeks: 11 June to 30 June
 
### Sprint Goal
- Prepare seriously for FAANG interviews while maintaining health, routine, and job application momentum.
 
### Coding
- Total target: 100 questions
- Daily target: 4-5 questions
- Weekly target: 30-35 questions
- Focus:
	- DP
	- Graphs
	- Neetcode 150
	- Neetcode 250
- Re-solve incorrect/slow questions after 48 hours
- Maintain mistake log
 
### System Design
- Daily: 1-1.5 hrs
- Weekly: 3-4 full designs
- Total target: 10-12 designs
- Use Hello Interview / tracker
- Write notes for each design:
	- Requirements
	- APIs
	- Data model
	- Architecture
	- Bottlenecks
	- Scaling
	- Tradeoffs
	- Failure modes
 
### Behavioral
- Daily: 45-60 mins
- Build 8-10 STAR stories
- Practice out loud
- Core stories:
	- Tell me about yourself
	- Conflict
	- Failure
	- Leadership
	- Ownership
	- Ambiguity
	- High-impact project
	- Tight deadline
	- Disagreement
	- Fast learning
 
### DotNet
- Daily: 1 hr
- Continue 100 things in DotNet series
- Keep this bounded so it does not eat into coding/system design prep
 
### Applications
- Daily or alternate day: 30-60 mins
- Weekly:
	- 10-15 applications
	- 5 referral requests
	- 5 recruiter messages
- Total target:
	- 30-45 applications
	- 15 referral requests
	- 15 recruiter messages
 
### Mock Interviews
- Week 1:
	- 1 coding mock
- Week 2:
	- 2 coding mocks
	- 1 system design mock
- Week 3:
	- 2 coding mocks
	- 2 system design mocks
	- 1 behavioral mock
 
### Health Non-negotiables
- Sleep 7+ hours
- Exercise daily
- Water bottle twice: morning and post-lunch
- Supplements: B12, Iron, Mg, O3, Vit D
- Weekly weight check

Final answer

Yes — this plan is now very workable.

The only thing I’d push hard on: don’t let it remain a “study schedule.” Turn it into an output schedule.

Daily outputs should be:

  • 4-5 coding problems
  • 1 system design concept/design
  • 1 behavioral story or answer practice
  • 1 DotNet session
  • 1 application/referral action
  • Exercise + sleep protected

If you execute this consistently for 3 weeks, you’ll be significantly sharper for FAANG interviews. [Timestamp: 2026/05/10 17:51:43]

ai: Got it — then I’d treat the next 3 weeks as a pre-sprint / foundation phase, not the full FAANG grind.

Your June phase can be the real “Lock In” sprint. For now, the goal should be:

  • Build consistency
  • Fix sleep/health/routine
  • Start coding momentum
  • Prepare tracking systems
  • Identify weak areas
  • Get resume/LinkedIn/referral pipeline ready
  • Avoid burnout before June

Revised framing

Instead of:

“Next 3 weeks = prepare fully for FAANG”

Make it:

“Next 3 weeks = stabilize life + build interview prep foundation so June can be high-output.”

That is much better.

Updated plan for next 3 weeks

Main priorities

PriorityGoal
HealthSleep, exercise, weight, hydration, supplements
RoutineConsistent wake/sleep and daily study rhythm
CodingBuild pattern momentum, not max volume
System DesignStart light but consistent
BehavioralDraft initial STAR stories
ApplicationsResume, LinkedIn, company list, referral prep
DotNetContinue daily 1 hour if useful

Next 3 weeks target

Coding

Keep it realistic:

  • 2-3 problems/day
  • 15-20 problems/week
  • 45-60 problems total over 3 weeks

Focus on quality:

  • Understand pattern
  • Write clean solution
  • Review mistakes
  • Re-solve hard ones after 2-3 days

Do not try to crush 100+ problems right now. Save that for June.

Best focus areas

For these 3 weeks:

  • Arrays / strings
  • Hash maps
  • Two pointers
  • Sliding window
  • Stack / monotonic stack basics
  • Binary search
  • Trees basics
  • Graph BFS/DFS basics
  • DP intro

This gives you a strong launchpad for June.

System design

Keep it light:

  • 30-45 mins/day or 3-4 sessions/week
  • 1 full design per week
  • 3 total designs in 3 weeks

Suggested designs:

  • URL shortener
  • Rate limiter
  • Notification system

For now, don’t over-optimize. Just build the habit:

  • Requirements
  • APIs
  • Data model
  • High-level design
  • Bottlenecks
  • Tradeoffs

Behavioral

Your current behavioral line in index says:

Book reading and content gen - 1 hr

For this phase, I’d change it to:

### Behavioral
- Draft 6 STAR stories over 3 weeks
- Practice “Tell me about yourself”
- Practice 2 stories/week out loud

Target stories:

  • Conflict
  • Failure
  • Leadership
  • Ownership
  • Ambiguity
  • High-impact project

You don’t need polished answers yet. Just draft raw material.

Applications / LinkedIn

This is actually a great thing to do before June.

For next 3 weeks:

  • Update resume
  • Update LinkedIn
  • Create target company list
  • Identify 30-50 roles
  • Identify possible referrers
  • Start light outreach

Do not make applications the main thing yet unless your resume is ready.

Suggested daily block:

  • 1 PM - 2 PM: Lunch + LinkedIn/referral/application prep

That already fits your current timetable.

Health / life focus

Since you specifically said you want to focus on your life, I would make this the real primary goal.

From index, you already have the right basics:

  • Get in shape
  • Weight target under 70
  • Sleep
  • Exercise
  • Water
  • Supplements
  • Morning routine

For next 3 weeks, make this measurable:

### Health Goals - Next 3 Weeks
- Sleep: 7+ hours
- Exercise: 5x/week
- Water: 2 bottles/day
- Weight check: 2x/week
- Supplements daily
- No late-night study if sleep is at risk

This will help June a lot.

Better timetable for next 3 weeks

Your existing timetable is ambitious. For this phase, I’d soften it slightly.

## Time Table - Foundation Phase
 
- 7 AM - 8 AM: Wake up, breakfast, coffee
- 8 AM - 9 AM: DotNet / CS basics
- 9 AM - 10 AM: Office round 1
- 10 AM - 11 AM: Exercise + post-work + lunch prep
- 11 AM - 1 PM: Office round 2
- 1 PM - 2 PM: Lunch + LinkedIn/referral prep
- 2 PM - 4 PM: Coding
- 4 PM - 4:30 PM: Break
- 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM: Coding review / re-solve / notes
- 5:30 PM - 6 PM: System design light
- 6 PM - 8 PM: Dinner break
- 8 PM - 9 PM: Behavioral / reading / resume / light review
- 9 PM - 10 PM: Wind down / planning / optional light study
- 10 PM - 11 PM: Sleep prep

Key difference: don’t force 6 hours of hard study yet. Aim for 3-4 good hours plus routine.

Weekly breakdown

Week 1: Stabilize

Focus:

  • Fix sleep/wake routine
  • Start exercise
  • Resume/LinkedIn cleanup
  • Coding basics
  • Create tracking sheets

Targets:

  • 15 coding problems
  • 1 system design: URL shortener
  • 2 STAR story drafts
  • Resume v1
  • LinkedIn profile review
  • Exercise 4-5 times

Week 2: Build momentum

Focus:

  • Increase coding consistency
  • Start graph/tree practice
  • Light referral research
  • Continue health rhythm

Targets:

  • 18-20 coding problems
  • 1 system design: Rate limiter
  • 2 STAR story drafts
  • 15 target companies/roles listed
  • 5 referral prospects identified
  • Exercise 5 times

Week 3: Prepare for June sprint

Focus:

  • Identify weak areas
  • Prepare June study plan
  • Finish application assets
  • Start timed coding lightly

Targets:

  • 20 coding problems
  • 1 system design: Notification system
  • 2 STAR story drafts
  • Resume v2 finalized
  • LinkedIn finalized
  • June coding/system design plan ready
  • 1-2 timed coding sessions

Then June can be the real sprint

In June, when you have more time, you can ramp to:

## June FAANG Lock-In
- Coding: 4-6 problems/day
- System Design: 1-2 hrs/day
- Behavioral: 45 mins/day
- Mock interviews: 2-3/week
- Applications/referrals: 5-10/week
- Re-solving mistake log: daily

That is where the high intensity belongs.

Suggested update to your index note

I’d rename the current sprint section like this:

## Current Sprint - Foundation Phase
 
### Timeframe
- Next 3 weeks before June
 
### Goal
- Stabilize life, health, and routine
- Build FAANG prep momentum
- Prepare for high-intensity June sprint
 
### Coding
- 2-3 problems/day
- 15-20 problems/week
- Total: 45-60 problems
- Focus on patterns and mistake log
 
### System Design
- 3 designs total
- URL shortener
- Rate limiter
- Notification system
- 30-45 mins/day or 3-4 sessions/week
 
### Behavioral
- Draft 6 STAR stories
- Practice “Tell me about yourself”
- Speak answers out loud 2x/week
 
### Applications
- Resume v2
- LinkedIn update
- Target company list
- Referral list
- Light outreach
 
### DotNet
- Daily 1 hour
- Continue 100 things in DotNet series
 
### Health
- Sleep 7+ hours
- Exercise 5x/week
- Water 2 bottles/day
- Supplements daily
- Weekly weight check
 
### June Sprint Prep
- Finalize June study schedule
- Identify weak areas
- Prepare problem lists
- Schedule mocks

Final recommendation

For the next 3 weeks, don’t chase maximum interview prep volume.

Chase this instead:

  • Stable routine
  • Better body/energy
  • 45-60 quality coding problems
  • 3 system design notes
  • 6 behavioral stories
  • Resume + LinkedIn ready
  • Clear June sprint plan

Then in June, you can go aggressive without starting from zero. [Timestamp: 2026/05/10 17:52:09]