I's easy to get carried away working a problem that intrigues you. Time disappears and before you know it you've been there for... quite a while. And yes it is fun and yes the curiosity around these problems and their hidden subtleties is a part of the attraction to this sport there's no denying it. And yes there's absolutely a time and a place for it but life often doesn't reward unaccountable play.
Responsibility and accountability are two branches of the same tree. It's time that holds us accountable and we're all bound by the clock.
The T4L runs it's weekly rounds for a strict 60 mins for good reason. The objective in these weekly rounds is to complete your four best routes. If you smoke all your energy 'working / playing' on one hard problem then you're bound to fall short of your potential and miss the whole objective of the game - and let your team mates down in the process. Double whammy.
Strategy is different between individuals on how they approach the game and adaptation is nearly always important when things don't go to plan. Such is life.
Some people play conservatively and execute four routes they know they can get early and move onto harder problems once they know they're secure and their score is safe. Others dance closer to the line and push harder at their limits right from the start. And there's everything in between. Ultimately, time and energy management is key but perhaps more importantly is how we're training ourselves to execute.
If we're training ourselves to perform under pressure then this tends to ripple out into other areas of life. How we play in sport often has an uncanny reflection on how we play in life and our sport is most certainly no different. Unaccountable play whilst fun can have it's downfalls and as we're a creature of habit maybe it's easy to underestimate how important this really is.
There's a place for both but without time constraints it's all just play and that's a pathway to meritocracy. No thanks. Holding ourselves accountable is important and the odds of performing well tend to increase in direct correlation to how we've trained ourselves.
20 Feb 2023