It's important to a lot of people. I get that I'm in the minority here, but I can make it on the leaderboard a lot of the time if I try. But trying to get on the leaderboard stresses me out and ruins the fun, so I instead do things like start a bit late to sabotage myself.

I still make it on the leaderboard sometimes if I get too excited about starting right away or if it's a particularly hard problem and I get lucky figuring it out. That stresses me out a bit. I'd be happier if the leaderboard weren't there.