Three months into my interview prep, I had a realization that hurt: I couldn’t solve problems I’d already solved.
I’d look at a medium-difficulty sliding window problem and think, “I know I’ve done this before.” I’d check my LeetCode history. Yep, solved it two months ago. But I couldn’t remember the approach. The insight that made it click the first time? Gone.
So I’d solve it again. And probably forget it again in another two months.
This is the dirty secret of LeetCode grinding: solving problems isn’t the same as learning them.
Why We Forget
The issue isn’t intelligence. It’s that LeetCode is optimized for solving, not remembering.
There’s no prompt to write down why your approach worked. No system to resurface the problem before you forget. No connection between “Two Sum” today and the similar hash map problem you’ll see next week.
You’re essentially speedrunning through problems without building anything permanent.
What Actually Works: Spaced Repetition + Personal Notes
You probably know this already: you remember things when you review them at increasing intervals, and when you explain them in your own words.
Some people use Anki. Some use Notion databases. The LeetCode grinders who actually retain what they learn all do some version of this: they have a system outside of LeetCode itself.
The problem? Building that system is tedious.
You have to copy the problem title, the difficulty, the tags, your code, and the URL. You have to remember to do it after every problem. You have to manually set review dates.
Most people (myself included) start strong and then stop after a week because the friction to make such a system is too high.
I Built a Tool to Remove the Friction
I got tired of copy-pasting, so I built a Chrome extension called Leetion.
It does one thing: connects LeetCode to Notion with a single click.
When you’re on a LeetCode problem, it automatically pulls the problem number, title, difficulty, tags, and your code. You click save, and it goes to your Notion database. It sets a spaced repetition review date automatically.
No more copy-pasting. No more forgetting to log problems. No more “I’ll add notes later” and then never doing it.
What My Workflow Looks Like Now
I solve a problem on LeetCode
I click the Leetion icon, add a quick note about the approach (“used hash map to track complements, O(n) time”)
I save it to Notion
The extension sets a review date 30 days out
When I review my Notion database, I can filter by tag, difficulty, or review date
I also save multiple solutions when I try different approaches, like both the recursive and iterative versions of a tree problem. They all live in the same entry.
There’s even a drawing canvas for sketching out trees and graphs when I’m working through a problem. Sometimes visualizing the structure is half the battle.
The Compound Effect
After a month of this, something changed.
I started recognizing patterns faster. When I encountered a new problem, I could think, “This feels like that subarray sum problem I did,” and actually recall the technique. My Notion database became a personal DSA reference I’d built myself.
The problems I reviewed actually stuck. The ones I didn’t? I could tell the difference.
Privacy Note
One thing that was important to me: I didn’t want my code or API keys going through some random server.
Leetion runs entirely in your browser. Your Notion API key stays local. Data goes directly from LeetCode to your Notion workspace: no accounts, no tracking, no external servers.
Try It If You’re Grinding
If you’re in the middle of interview prep and feeling like you’re on a treadmill, solving problems but not actually getting better, the issue might not be the quantity of problems. It might be that you’re not retaining them.
Leetion is free on the Chrome Web Store. Setup takes about 2 minutes.
LeetCode helps you practice. But you need a system to actually remember.
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