Hey everyone,
I know this is probably going to be cringe and shameful, but I really need help because it feels like I’m stuck in a big hole.
The team selection for my country's informatics olympiad will probably be in about a month, and to be honest, I’m kind of screwed right now. I'm terrible at olympiad-style competitive programming, and I suck at Codeforces-style contests too—but olympiads are a whole other level.
My biggest issue is time management. Spending five hours on three problems feels like an eternity. If I can’t solve something in the first 1.5 hours, I just give up and completely lose focus for the rest of the contest. I find it really hard to sit there and keep pushing when nothing's working. Even when I tell myself to move on, it just doesn't happen. Plus, I get crazy anxious and stressed both before and during the contest. If I feel like I’m messing up, it all goes downhill from there. I can't seem to control it, and it totally ruins my performance.
I’m not great at olympiad-style problems either. From what I’ve heard, these contests have some seriously weird and complex problems. Recently, I tried solving some past IZHO problems, and I was honestly lost. The problem style is just so different from what I’ve seen before, and when I can’t even get started, my brain just shuts off.
In terms of algorithms, I can handle most topics up to the very hard problems in the USACO Guide’s gold section. In the platinum section, I think I can solve some of the hard problems within 1.5-2 hours. So, algorithmically, I’m feeling fine. (But here's the thing—I’m pretty sure our olympiad doesn’t have any communication, interactive, or constructive problems. We just need to focus on the classic types, so that’s what I need to be working on. You don’t need to factor that in, just wanted to clarify.)
I’ve got exactly one month to prepare, and I’m definitely committed to putting in the work. But I've read a ton of blog posts on this subject, and most of them just talk about problem-solving strategies, which are helpful but not what I need right now. My real struggle is psychological. I need advice on how to deal with long contests without burning out, how to stay calm when I’m stuck, and how to keep my confidence from totally disappearing. Right now, every contest feels like a mental battle, and I don’t know how to fix it.
If anyone has gone through this or has any tips, I’d really appreciate it. How do I stay focused for longer, deal with the stress, and build my confidence for the contest?
Thanks in advance!
And thanks for reading all the whining of a teenager.
(Maybe I’m just depressed right now, or I’m really pushing myself too hard—maybe I’m going through burnout, or maybe I should try doing something different with my friends or talk to a psychologist or someone. Just wanted to throw that out there.)
