With IOI just around the corner, some of you may be wondering: "what should I do after I AK after 3 hours?"

In this post, I'll share some activities that you can do to pass the time!

(Note that some of these may not be applicable for an online IOI)

Level 1 — Built-in software on your computer

The most obvious thing you can do is use the built-in stuff. I'm talking about playing Minesweeper, reading the C++ documentation, or anything similar.

While Minesweeper is quite fun and the C++ documentation is... interesting, Minesweeper quickly becomes boring and you'll look like a huge nerd if you read the documentation (and you don't want that, do you?)

That's why I'll only recommend this if you're a noob and only AK in 4 hours.

Level 2 — Creating software

So you've beaten Minesweeper 10 times already and read through the C++ documentation twice. What next? Well, you've got some mad programming skills — why not put them to good use for once?

You've got (almost) everything you need on your IOI computer to create the next Facebook or Google. Try making some cool software to kill the time! For example, I made this beautiful Japanese flag during the practice contest of IOI 2019. Of course, you can also make something more abstract if you're into that kind of thing.

This is my favourite option, but if you're looking for something spicier...

Level 3 — Entertaining yourself using other contestants

I'm not saying that you have to get up and talk to the other contestants (not that you can anyway), but you can look around and gather some pretty interesting statistics. Who has the loudest keyboard? Who types the fastest? What is the modal shirt colour?

Alternatively, you can imagine what's going on in the other contestants' heads. Did that sleeping Canadian guy also AK or has he just given up? Which problem is that Slovakian guy next to you hammering away at his keyboard working on now? What about that crying Portuguese guy with the group of scientific committee members gathered around his computer, shaking their heads in disbelief? How is his day going?

Level 4 — Implementing your solutions again in other languages

Ok, I get it — you're no fun and only want to do something related to the IOI. That's perfectly fine and I've got just the activity for you!

Try implementing your solutions in another language! Implementing your solutions again but in Java (or C++ if you're one of those people) is a fun (albeit not very rewarding) challenge. But you know what is a rewarding challenge? Implementing your solutions in Scratch, of course!

("But I don't have access to the online Scratch editor!" You have access to a normal text editor, no?)

Conclusion

These are all the potential activities I could think of. Of course, I've never been able to try them out (but maybe some of you will be able to).

I'd love to hear about other potential activities suggested by you in the comments below!