I have multiple times tried to get into an Anki habit and failed to keep it up. I think the main thing that makes me stop is that I try to make nearly every sentence of something that I’m studying into a card, because I have no idea what’s worth remembering and what isn’t. (As a general rule, throughout life, I suck at prioritizing.) The other thing, though, is that it feels like Work and things which feel like Work are Unpleasant and I procrastinate them. Do you have any advice for getting over that hump?
In general, when I first started using SRS I had this issue too. Over time, I got a fair bit better of it with 1 or 2 rules:
-I should be able to make at least 1 connection from the idea to something else (filter out only shallowly understood things)
-I should be able to either connect it to a situation of real life applicability or a goal
I didn’t make it only: I need to be able to figure out applicability when making card, because a lot of useful knowledge might not that have it as obvious. But at the least, I should be learning it in a real context. E.g. some of my main goals now are:
-learn UX design
-understand how SRS/IR can be used to create genius
-get better at teaching
-become more resillient to disruption (emotionally)
Those are specific-ish and learning in context of those instead of I can use this sometime in the next decade is a useful filter
One way to start is to put in things you find yourself looking up. If you’re reading math and you have to keep looking up the quadratic formula, put it in. If you’re reading the ‘Nash equilibrium’ Wikipedia page, put in a few examples (and maybe even the formal definition!).
Then, while you’re reading a textbook, you might develop a taste for what things you’ll probably look up later.
The other thing, though, is that it feels like Work and things which feel like Work are Unpleasant and I procrastinate them. Do you have any advice for getting over that hump?
I like to think about Anki as giving me enduring experience points, which is Fun and Gratifying. Once you find it really work for you on something that matters, maybe you’ll find it more exciting? I can only guess—I’ve naturally enjoyed Anki since nearly the beginning.
Hmm… I could try actually counting experience points. Like, each flash card reviewed grants a point, and every time I reach, say, a new Fibonacci Number of points, I gain a level and… um… stuff! The idea of leveling up really isn’t very motivating by itself, but it would help.
Here’s one idea: when reading a textbook or anything else I want to memorize, I might try to come up with just one question and answer pair about each page, and make a card out of that. Summarize the most important info on that page. Anything that’s not too info-heavy, that should work. In things which are info-heavy, your method should work quite well.
I have multiple times tried to get into an Anki habit and failed to keep it up. I think the main thing that makes me stop is that I try to make nearly every sentence of something that I’m studying into a card, because I have no idea what’s worth remembering and what isn’t. (As a general rule, throughout life, I suck at prioritizing.) The other thing, though, is that it feels like Work and things which feel like Work are Unpleasant and I procrastinate them. Do you have any advice for getting over that hump?
In general, when I first started using SRS I had this issue too. Over time, I got a fair bit better of it with 1 or 2 rules:
-I should be able to make at least 1 connection from the idea to something else (filter out only shallowly understood things)
-I should be able to either connect it to a situation of real life applicability or a goal
I didn’t make it only: I need to be able to figure out applicability when making card, because a lot of useful knowledge might not that have it as obvious. But at the least, I should be learning it in a real context. E.g. some of my main goals now are:
-learn UX design
-understand how SRS/IR can be used to create genius
-get better at teaching
-become more resillient to disruption (emotionally)
Those are specific-ish and learning in context of those instead of I can use this sometime in the next decade is a useful filter
One way to start is to put in things you find yourself looking up. If you’re reading math and you have to keep looking up the quadratic formula, put it in. If you’re reading the ‘Nash equilibrium’ Wikipedia page, put in a few examples (and maybe even the formal definition!).
Then, while you’re reading a textbook, you might develop a taste for what things you’ll probably look up later.
I like to think about Anki as giving me enduring experience points, which is Fun and Gratifying. Once you find it really work for you on something that matters, maybe you’ll find it more exciting? I can only guess—I’ve naturally enjoyed Anki since nearly the beginning.
Hmm… I could try actually counting experience points. Like, each flash card reviewed grants a point, and every time I reach, say, a new Fibonacci Number of points, I gain a level and… um… stuff! The idea of leveling up really isn’t very motivating by itself, but it would help.
Here’s one idea: when reading a textbook or anything else I want to memorize, I might try to come up with just one question and answer pair about each page, and make a card out of that. Summarize the most important info on that page. Anything that’s not too info-heavy, that should work. In things which are info-heavy, your method should work quite well.