FWIW, there are two principal reasons why I don't participate in the challenges;
1) I simply have too much on my platter. Even neglecting my responsibilities at home, (a) I need to keep my paying photography customers happy, and (b) near the top of my list of priorities is to be out in nature as much as possible, either hiking or backpacking. I do this both for aesthetic and health reasons. I feel like I sit (and have sat) in front of a computer for way too much of my life.
2) I realize that mine is an extreme point of view, and many, if not most people feel completely the opposite, but ever since I was a small child, I have never liked playing games of any sort, contests (physical or mental), etc.. To me, such activities seem like artificially constructed, time-wasting busy-work. In contrast, I absolutely love to receive real-world validation of my activities. Before I retired, this was seeing the success of my students at the university, and now, this feedback is (among other places) in the form of customers who will pay for my photography and photoshop services, helping people who come to PSG with specific, non-frivilous requests for work, or who come here because they are serious about learning PS and need some help in specific areas.
As the old Internet saying goes, YMMV, and I am well aware that just about everyone's mileage *always* differs from mine, LOL.
Cheers,
Tom M
