The SM-2 Algorithm Actually Is Too Aggressive on Substantially Overdue Cards
I did an informal study on my 13 years of Anki spaced-repetition history to settle a team question at RemNote: is our “Anki SM-2” algorithm (and Anki’s SM-2 ...
memory
How to Quickly Learn Your Way Around A New Place
I’m naturally pretty average at navigation. I’m not bad – at least since my teens, I’ve always been able to use a map (GPS-enabled or not) or listen ...
Tweaking the Scheduler
Anki’s default scheduling settings are good enough in most cases. But sometimes they don’t work optimally with certain types of material or study pattern...
An Introduction to Mnemonics
Mnemonics is the art of reversibly substituting easy-to-remember things for difficult-to-remember ones.
Partnering with Anki
Less experienced and less successful spaced-repetition users tend to treat their SRS as a magic box: put information in, and knowledge comes out. In ...
When to Learn with Anki
After you’ve determined what to learn and how much to learn, you might wonder when you should do your study. In one sense, it doesn’t matter at all; ...
Case Studies in Writing Cards
In this post, we’ll look at three case studies of real things I added to my Anki collection recently and how I selected and wrote the cards.
Catching Up On Your Anki Reviews
Everyone gets behind on their reviews occasionally. Here are some strategies for getting back in Anki’s good graces when that happens.
Maintaining Your Collection
Maintenance might not be fun, but if you think doing maintenance isn’t fun, try not doing maintenance. Here’s a plan for keeping your collection neat...
What to Learn with Anki
If you start a spaced-repetition collection and diligently study every day, you might soon face an unusual question: what should you learn? Sometimes...
Organizing Your Cards
If you start seriously using spaced repetition and add material from all areas of your life, it can get tricky to keep track of all your cards. Maybe...
How Much to Learn with Anki
When you’re starting out with Anki or another SRS, you might wonder how much you can expect to learn with this newly efficient method of studying. Be...
Dealing with Leeches
One of the foundational principles of spaced repetition is separating easy cards from hard cards. We can then review the easy cards rarely and the hard c...
Rules for Designing Precise Anki Cards
Reviewing in Anki is easy: all you have to do is answer the question and press a button to indicate how well you remembered it. Creating the cards to...
Spaced Repetition Glossary
Spaced repetition has a bit of a learning curve of its own, but too much of it comes from not understanding a few relatively straightforward terms an...
Getting Started with Anki
By popular demand, the memory series is back! Thanks to all those who wrote to and asked me if I was going to write more. Over the next few weeks, we’ll ...
Why Keep Notes?
Nearly every literate person has written notes for herself at some point in her life. However, most people haven’t spent much time thinking about all...
The Magic of Index Cards
I find that nowadays the humble three-by-five index card is extremely underappreciated. True, some of the former roles of index cards are much better...
The Power of Names
I have found people have a tendency to discount or ignore the important role of having names for things in human thinking. This can lead to neglecting or...
Spaced Repetition From The Ground Up
Last week we looked at three principles that combine to create an extraordinarily effective, scientific study method called spaced repetition. You ce...
Spaced Repetition
In today’s fast-paced, information-driven world, everyone must constantly learn new things. While learning itself can be challenging at times, rememb...
Human Memory by Example: Weaknesses
This is part two of “Human Memory By Example.” Last week we focused on strengths of human memory; this week we’ll look at weaknesses with an eye towards how ...
Human Memory by Example: Strengths
In my introduction to this series, I suggested:
Why You Still Need To Know Things
It’s hard to learn things, and it’s even harder to remember them after you learn them if you’re not using them constantly. Humanity has had this problem sinc...
