2023.10.02 - 19:31 Status: Tags: #blogpost

Intro

It shouldn’t take a lot to get a lot from Anki. In fact, the easier you make it (while not making it too easy) the more enjoyable and better returns you get from it. Here’s (literally) just about everything I do.

Hotkeys are magic

• “S” opens the deck you want to study
• “D” takes you back to the home screen with your decks
• “C” shows the Custom Study options (when you’re on the “Study now” page, from the main page press “S” and then “C” to open them.)
• when I’m feeling vain, “T” shows the sTaTs of all my recommendations
• “E” lets you Edit the card you’re currently viewing (no need to treat these as sacred. If it’s not working, change it.)

Adding cards

• “A” for…Add
• on the “adding cards” screen:
  • “Ctrl + D” lets you select the Deck
  • “Ctrl + N” selects the Note type
• “Shift + Ctrl + C” on Cloze cards to insert a Cloze deletion over the highlighted text

Quick tips

• Make one mega deck that holds all the others, the interleaves everything (I start to get bored when focusing on only one topic at a time).
• If you find yourself bored by the info on the note, reflect on whether or not that info actually matters to you (excitement seems like a precursor to great learning) (this also seems like the bigger issue most of the time, especially not knowing what the info is doing “in the big picture”, or why something is relevant. Really make sure you’re checking on this.)
• If you are motivated by the info itself but are bored by the card / don’t feel a challenge from it, then the way the card is testing you needs some work.
  • Identify the exact parts of that info that you want to be tested on (read: have memorized), and then try structuring the card differently to the important parts more directly.

Conclusion

• The primary idea behind this article is to show that you don’t need much to get a lot.
• According to my stats I’ve done ⁨21,165⁩ reviews and this is easily 70% of what I do while reviewing, and it should probably stay that way.
  • Having too much to focus on reduces your focus from what you’re here for, to expand your working memory.
  • (Ctrl + F “95% of Anki’s value comes from 5% of the features:” on this article for more on this)