You want to gain rating, right? Well, you probably won't gain rating, because you never tried to gain rating in your life, "you expect all hard work to be done for you by someone else". Let's start!
Equipment Matters — But Only a Little Your equipment such as your keyboard, monitor etc can help you perform better. A comfortable environment can reduce distractions, a fast keyboard can improve your typing speed, a bigger screen can help you read problems faster. But the thing is, fancy gear alone won't help you gain rating. Just like how footballers don't score more goals because of their football boots, sure, it makes a difference, but just because I bought Haaland's boots, does not make me Haaland. Appreciate the gear that you have, but terat it as helpful tools, not magic solutions.
Techniques Aren't Enough There are various techniques used in competetive programming, learning to use different data structures and algorithms are essential to gaining rating on codeforces, however, they alone aren't enough to gain you rating. You can know dynamic programming inside out, but if you can't apply it in a multi-step complex question, whats the point? Almost every top midfielder knows every passing technique — lob pass, pinged pass, whipped pass — you name it. So what separates them apart? It's not just knowing the techniques, it's about knowing the techniques, and then using them when and only when the situation requires. Similarly, in Codeforces, its not just about knowing these core data structures and algorithms, it's about using them when and only when the situation requires. In a crossing position, an intelligent footballer would never do a straight lob, instead they would do a whipped pass, and when they aren't in a crossing situation, they most likely wouldn't even use the whipped pass at all. This is exactly the same as in competetive programming, you have to understand the question you are solving, what you need to do, and then use the techniques that can help you solve this question, not force a technique upon a question.
The Contest When the contest starts, a casual mindset doesn't cut it. This is your match day — the moment to put everything you've practiced into action. Like a game of football, it is intense and demanding. Just like in a game of football, it has its fast moments and slow moments, the start of a contest always requires pace, where even being five minutes slow can cost you hundreds of rating points. On the other hand, later on in the contest, it is like the opposition is sitting in a midblock, you need to progress the ball slowly, thinking carefully about the problem at hand, to break down the opposition, and complete the more difficult questions. Furthermore, during the contest you must be constantly aware of what the opposition is doing, if you are behind what you usually rank, you must know this to up the pace, if you see a lot of people solving one question, maybe you should skip the one you are doing and move onto that question. Strategy and decision making during the contest is often overlooked and being aware and calm enough to react to changes during the match is an important skill. Being good at contests requires speed, quality, mental stamina, calmness and awareness. You should treat the contest like the real match it is.
Off-pitch Training Great footballers train relentlessly off the pitch. So should you. Outside of contests, use your time in training sessions to learn and improve techniques, increase your mental stamina, and work on speed for the earlier questions. Training is about improving at different aspects of a contest, so that during the contest, you only have to do the decision making, and the problems will solve themselves.
Conclusion So, do you still want to gain rating? Then stop treating Codeforces like a lazy Sunday job in the park. Now, it's not "just for fun", it's a sport. You train, prepare and show up to the match ready to perform. Your fancy keyboard? Nice. Your knowledge of segment trees? Cute. But none of it matters if you show up to the match day like you're kicking the ball around with your friends, instead of playing in the Champions League Final. If you want to keep it casual — fine. But if you really want to improve your skill and gain rating, you need to put in hours of practice, build your game sense, and step onto the field like you mean it. The whistle's blowing — are you playing, or just watching.
Good luck everyone with your codeforces, the premier league starts next week, so I probably won't have lots of time to do Codeforces.
