src/app/components/calendar-year/calendar-year.scss

@@ -57,8 +57,8 @@
 
 	::ng-deep .mat-mdc-progress-spinner {
 		// Override Material spinner size
-		width: 100px !important;
-		height: 100px !important;
+		width: 100px;
+		height: 100px;
 	}
 
 	.spinner-text {

src/app/components/calendar-year/calendar-year.ts

@@ -41,23 +41,25 @@ export class CalendarYear {
 			console.log('Optimizing vacations with data:', vacationData);
 			this.isLoading.set(true);
 			this.loadingProgress.set(0);
-			// Simulate server-side calculation with a small delay
-			setTimeout(async () => {
-				if (this.selectedDates) {
-					// Create a copy to avoid mutating the original signal data
-					const remainingDays = await this.selectedDates.optimizeVacations(
-						{ ...vacationData },
-						this.calendarSettingsService,
-						this.calendarService,
-						(progress: number) => {
-							this.loadingProgress.set(progress);
-						},
-					);
-					// Update the remaining vacation days signal
-					this.userInput.remainingVacationDaysSignal.set(remainingDays);
-				}
-				this.isLoading.set(false);
-			}, 1);
+			// Defer execution to allow UI to update
+			queueMicrotask(() => {
+				void (async () => {
+					if (this.selectedDates) {
+						// Create a copy to avoid mutating the original signal data
+						const remainingDays = await this.selectedDates.optimizeVacations(
+							{ ...vacationData },
+							this.calendarSettingsService,
+							this.calendarService,
+							(progress: number) => {
+								this.loadingProgress.set(progress);
+							},
+						);
+						// Update the remaining vacation days signal
+						this.userInput.remainingVacationDaysSignal.set(remainingDays);
+					}
+					this.isLoading.set(false);
+				})();
+			});
 		});
 	}
 

src/app/services/calendar-service.ts

@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ export class SelectedDates implements SelectedDateInterface {
 
 			// Check if adjacent (next day) - this is the best case!
 			if (nextStartTime - currentEndTime === oneDayInMs) {
-				totalScore += 15; // Big bonus for adjacency
+				totalScore += 15; // 50% increased bonus for adjacency; adjacency is highly valued in the scoring system
 			} else if (nextStartTime > currentEndTime) {
 				// Penalty based on days between the two dates
 				const daysBetween = Math.floor((nextStartTime - currentEndTime) / oneDayInMs) - 1;
@@ -555,13 +555,18 @@ export class SelectedDates implements SelectedDateInterface {
 		const totalDays = initialVacations.cp + initialVacations.rtt + initialVacations.other;
 		let processedDays = 0;
 
-		// Helper function to update progress
+		// Helper function to update progress, throttled to every 5%
+		let lastReportedProgress = 0;
+		const PROGRESS_STEP = 5; // percent
 		const updateProgress = async () => {
 			if (progressCallback && totalDays > 0) {
 				const progress = Math.round((processedDays / totalDays) * 100);
-				progressCallback(progress);
-				// Allow UI to update with a microtask
-				await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 0));
+				if (progress - lastReportedProgress >= PROGRESS_STEP || progress === 100) {
+					progressCallback(progress);
+					lastReportedProgress = progress;
+					// Allow UI to update with a microtask
+					await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 0));
+				}
 			}
 		};