Lately, I’ve been wondering about something that happens when I solve problems on Codeforces. Some days, I can open a problem, understand it quickly, and write the solution almost without thinking. It feels natural — like my brain is fully awake and every idea connects smoothly. But on other days, even with similar problems, I stare at the screen for hours and nothing makes sense. I forget simple logic, or keep getting wrong answers on something I know I can solve. And that's the part where I start to lose motivation's.

At first, I thought maybe I’m just lazy or not trying enough. But it doesn’t really feel like that. It feels like sometimes my “problem-solving mode” just turns off for no reason. When it’s off, I can’t think clearly at all. But when it’s on, I can solve problems that looked impossible to me just yesterday. It’s really frustrating because I never know which version of me will come during a contest.

Maybe it’s about focus, or sleep, or confidence. Maybe it’s just how the brain works — some days are good, some are not.

I’m still trying to figure out what helps. Maybe taking short breaks, or starting with easy problems to warm up my brain. I don’t really know the answer yet. But I’ll keep trying, because I really want to get better at this.

Does anyone else feel the same way?