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low_'s blog

By low_, history, 5 years ago, In English

Hmm, I'm thinking that not only me, but almost everyone suffers from days that he or she doesn't feel like himself/herself :/

Recently, the weather in Hanoi changes drastically and I caught a common cold. I thought it was just a minor one and I'll be relieved one or two days later. But what I found and what I'm gonna address in this blog is that my thinking process and logical ideas do not work very well days like these, or even a long time after.

What the hell was I thinking ?? >:(

Before the weather change, I was hyped. I was motivated and able to sit at the desk coding for 9 to 10 hours a day! Before that I had a huge news that I've got in Vietnam team of 15 for Asia-Pacific I.O. which came very surprising even for me (it wasn't even in my wildest dream back then lol =)))) ). My code then was pretty well organized and my logic was really smooth, which made me feel invincible and nothing can't stop me from reaching my highest peak as a student programmer (believe me, if you are a hardcore competitive programmer, at least once in your lifetime that you think you're tourist!).

That winning feeling!

But in 2 of my most recent contest: Codeforces Round 553 (Div. 2) and Educational Codeforces Round 63 (Rated for Div. 2), I failed miserably. I got stucked with something that normally shouldn't be stucked. I got easily distracted during contest (not by smartphones or anything, it just my head does not focus only on numbers while solving problems). My bugs were full of codes and my logic was purely a laughing stock. I couldn't blame anything but myself.

Really, really stuck...

The problem is that this is not the first time I experience this kind of problem. Not a long time ago, I experienced this while training for Vietnam Team Selection Test for APIO. I gave up back then and not practicing anything for more than a month because I think I cannot catch up to them (that's why the fact that I nailed the TST was really, really surprising, even for me). But I can't afford to do the same again, because nailing that test wasn't even my intention and I don't have much time and that much of stupidity to do so. There's only less than a month left, I need to work efficiently!

Asking all the hardcore competitor on Codeforces, from LGM to Newbie: During these bad days, what would you do to freshen yourself and efficiently get back to work?

All images are from Google Images, here only to serve illustration purposes only.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -8 Vote: I do not like it

Auto comment: topic has been updated by low_ (previous revision, new revision, compare).

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +129 Vote: I do not like it

My bugs were full of codes

You got distracted here as well

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
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    It's my intention to do that though, really =)))) to show how messed up I am

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5 years ago, # |
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Seems like I'm having symptoms of "Dreadful Days" too.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
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    Well, you shouldn't submit three lines of code for a div2D problem :P

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +24 Vote: I do not like it

Just chill bro, hangout with your friends for some time, and you'll feel better. You gotta take a little break, not a month away, but for 3-4 days or maybe a week. You can't work passionately for something for a long time, after a certain amount of time,you'll start having "Dreadful days", that's all. It's not a serious issue.

Hope it helps.

ll the best.

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
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    Wow, I do feel the same way as you.

    Third day taking a break, feeling cool as ice and absolutely no pressure at all ^^

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
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    What are friends?

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5 years ago, # |
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(believe me, if you are a hardcore competitive programmer, at least once in your lifetime that you think you're tourist!).

Hm, no ?

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +21 Vote: I do not like it

    Looks like neither of us are hardcore competitive programmers

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      5 years ago, # ^ |
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      I wanna be the tourist!

      But I can't.

      ; w ;

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    5 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

    Well then you were just being too humble :))))

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +13 Vote: I do not like it

Maybe, it's better to just treat CP as game/puzzle and you have will to enhance your problem solving skill, not for rating.

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5 years ago, # |
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It's just up's and down's you have to deal with during ur Journey of becoming better than tourist. I happens to everyone. After Global Round #1, I turned Blue and suddenly my solutions starting getting hacked for the first time after pupil. The phase continued for 2 months, until Global Round #2 after which I turned Purple back again, and now hoping to become Master soon.

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5 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +8 Vote: I do not like it

There is no one on this platform who is aiming to make his level better doesn't have days like these, you need to know first it's normal to have such days, we are people who trying to challenge them selves every single day, we tend to have so much expectations on ourselves and it's completely exhausting the shit out of us, we tend to judge ourselves on the short term(one contest) and what we don't recognize is that we have time! patience! why do you want to be successful now ? why do you wanna be LGM right now ?? i can't wait to become LGM and i will, but i also love the process of getting to LGM i love failing and the hard ("ACCEPTED") i love this competitive programming game more than the results and the medals and the ranks, cuz it's my passion!! try to stop judging yourself :) you have so much time stop trying to proof anything and keep hustling you will get there (have Patience), best of luck man!