I felt the exact same way. Personally I've found the best thing is to see a lot of problems. The more problems you've solved, the more reference points you hav

I felt the exact same way. Personally I've found the best thing is to see a lot of problems. The more problems you've solved, the more reference points you have for solving future ones. But these have to be problems that you've personally solved. That's why fluffy algorithm books are a waste of time. Books cannot do the thinking for you.