Coding community

Why I don’t do advent of code

Every December, my timeline fills with people tackling Advent of Code, and every year, I feel like I should take part. But honestly it just stresses me out.

• I feel like I have to participate and have to get everything right (which, I know, isn’t the point—it’s about learning).
• I don’t enjoy the pressure. The daily pace makes me feel like I’m falling behind before I’ve even started.
• I want to prioritise getting outside during winter, not spending more time huddled over a laptop.
• I love puzzles—cryptic crosswords, Connections, lateral thinking games—but I don’t love these kinds of algorithm-heavy coding challenges. I have way more fun spinning up a website or building an R package.

Maybe the solution isn’t skipping it entirely but doing it my way. Instead of racing through daily problems, what if I just picked one challenge and did it really well? Fully documented, tested, and even turned into a fun little project.

Setting a time limit and sharing my progress publicly—showing what I can do in, say, 30 minutes and letting go of perfectionism. Like how [Nicola Rennie did 15 minute maps for the #30DayMapChallenge(https://github.com/tjukanovt/30DayMapChallenge), but for AoC.