Hello everyone.

I recently started taking competitive programming seriously and I really want to improve on Codeforces. Right now, I am practicing regularly, learning problem-solving, and trying to build strong fundamentals.

Currently I am focusing on:

implementation greedy math basic data structures improving contest performance

But sometimes I feel confused about:

how to practice efficiently how to analyze contests properly when to move to harder topics how stronger coders think during problems

So I wanted to ask experienced programmers here:

What helped you improve the most in CP? How many problems should a beginner solve daily? Is it better to focus more on contests or topic-wise practice? How do you upsolve effectively after contests? Any advice for someone aiming to become Specialist/Expert?

I would also appreciate:

useful blogs problem lists YouTube channels practice strategies mindset advice

I am ready to work hard and improve consistently.

Thank you :)