This document will outline some tips for improving your training technique.
Some of them can be used completely independently (OYO label for on your own), some of them require subscription to Um_nik (SU label), some of them require a long video chat with me (VL for a video lesson). Of course, you can replace me with anybody else who you trust to do the same thing, or in some cases ignore the part where you are supposed to get feedback on your actions — you will still end up with a useful exercise.
Unless there are prizes involved, your position in the standings makes no difference. I can feel awful after winning a contest, if I know that I could solve one more problem. Or I can feel OK losing a bunch of rating points knowing that I solved everything I could. Because rating is just a number. It is highly volatile and it depends on other people, not only on your skill. But solving problems is totally up to you. And you should evaluate yourself not based on some random metric, but on your honest feeling whether you performed up to your expectations. Your sense of self should be under your control, don't get hung up on some imaginary value, you cannot reduce your progress to a single number.
Rating is just a number. Do not be afraid to lose your color. You’ll get it back in no time if you continue to improve.
You don’t need a second account for shitposting either. If you think something you are doing is shit and you don't want it associated with your main account you shouldn't do it at all. Either be proud of your trolling (and do it from your main account) or don't do it.
You may think that you are not ready to write some contests, that you need more practice solving problems without time restrictions. And yeah, practice is a necessary part of progress, but you will never learn how to function under pressure without writing contests. The best way to learn how to do X is to try to do X.
What is even the point of it? Does it help you make a decision of what to do? What problem to solve? What problem to hack? No. It may give you motivation, but it may also break your motivation by giving you a false sense of security.
And besides, rating is just a number. Your sole goal during the contest should be to solve as much as you can. As fast as you can, as optimal as you can, and hacking on the side comes later. Focus on solving. Focus on the next problem. That is it. Round is just a series of intervals where you focus on the new problem.
Rating is way too random to be tied to your sense of achievement. Be proud of yourself for solving problems, not for your place and rating change.
No explanation needed. Just do it.
Basically this: https://codeforces.com/blog/entry/106346
You can (and should) try to think “Can I do greedy? Can I do dp?” and similar. What you shouldn’t do is to believe that the problem must be solved with any particular algorithm and only try to come up with a way to make this particular algorithm work.
One very special example of this is guessing solution or complexity from constraints and/or underlying objects. Yes, it is useful information to know which complexity is expected. But you can’t determine it with 100% certainty from the constraints, and that doesn’t dictate which algorithm to use.
And do not choose an algorithm first and solve the problem later. Algorithms are tools you use to implement the solutions efficiently. If someone asks you to help assemble furniture, you don’t say “I’ll take my allen wrench, that’s all I need” without reading the manual. There are significant differences in problem solving, of course. First of all, you don’t have the manual, you should write the manual yourself, that’s called solving the problem. And second, all your toolbox is in your head, so it doesn’t cost you anything to bring the whole toolbox to the problem.