The budget is the exercise
Target times per task type; log target, actual, and the phase that ate the surplus.
The budget is the exercise. Each challenge below names a target time. Set a real timer before starting — the skill under test is not the algorithm (you own those) but allocation:
| Task type | Target | Where time actually goes | | --- | --- | --- | | Count/exists core | 3 min | reading the spec twice | | Two-pass method | 6 min | the tie-break clause | | Full class (3 behaviors) | 15 min | constructor + guards | | Fix-and-verify | 7 min | tracing, not typing |
After each item, log three numbers: target, actual, and the phase that ate the surplus (reading / planning / coding / testing). The log is the curriculum — after two sets you will see your personal bottleneck in black and white, and it is rarely the coding.