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“The Truth About Spaced Repetition, & If It Really Suits You”
Introduction
Repetition is a very basic, but still great technique for memorizing information and ingraining it into your long-term memory.
This post will go over everything you need to know regarding spaced repetition, and how to make sure that you maximize from it as much as possible, and increase its effectiveness unlike anything you’ve likely seen from it before.
My Experience
This is a tactic we all know and are familiar with. If you repeatedly overview a piece of information, or pieces of information again and again, you will eventually remember it. However, it’s such a basic technique that requires lots of time and attention but doesn’t yield the highest returns.
Sure, spaced repetition is OK, but I would never depend on it to do well in school, or in college. It’s just not good enough of a technique to use in order to get the best grades possible.
Back when I was in school, spaced repetition was (and still is) a technique that we as students were advised about and informed on regarding how to prepare for an exam, and study properly.
But, in my experience, it was never really that good.
However, I will admit that I didn’t use the technique to the best of my ability. So, with this post, I aim to teach you the secrets of this method that I wish I knew back then.
Spaced Repetition: The Traditional Method
Spaced repetition is the process of regularly reviewing a piece of information for a certain number of intervals.
More specifically, the traditional version of it might consist of:
- Reviewing information at regular intervals (without a specific schedule)
- Using fixed intervals, regardless of individual learning needs
- Using flashcards
- Not adjusting based on performance
Don’t follow this method.
Spaced Repetition: The Optimal Method
This is the traditional approach to spaced repetition, but better.
The Method
- Personalized Scheduling.
- Use software or applications that implement algorithms to determine optimal review intervals based on your learning pace and performance. Specifically, this means consistently reviewing information in a way that’s simple for your brain to remember, and for you to repeatedly practice easily.
- Some good tools are Anki, Quizlet, and Remnote. All of these are good picks and are ideal for simplified learning.
- Use software or applications that implement algorithms to determine optimal review intervals based on your learning pace and performance. Specifically, this means consistently reviewing information in a way that’s simple for your brain to remember, and for you to repeatedly practice easily.
- Interleaving.
- Don’t study similar topics together, and instead interleave different concepts and subjects together to prevent boredom and improve long-term retention.
- Master Your Focus.
- Aim for a deep understanding of the material, rather than just memorizing facts. This means going through all the concepts you’re focusing on, and taking the time necessary to really understand everything. Remember, repetition is an add-on to your already-implemented learning process.
- TIP: Practice applying your knowledge in different contexts to reinforce your understanding and improve problem-solving skills.
- Aim for a deep understanding of the material, rather than just memorizing facts. This means going through all the concepts you’re focusing on, and taking the time necessary to really understand everything. Remember, repetition is an add-on to your already-implemented learning process.
- Repetition.
- This is what this entire method is all about. Review the material at increasing intervals, rather than randomly. This means starting out by reviewing it every day, then every other day, then a couple times per week (and even less over time).
- This method is great for a variety of reasons, and this is one of them. It can be applied to anything. Of course, if you’re in school, this method won’t work as well because regular reviewing is hard, far too high of an expectation in many cases, and requires too much time.
- This is what this entire method is all about. Review the material at increasing intervals, rather than randomly. This means starting out by reviewing it every day, then every other day, then a couple times per week (and even less over time).
The Truth: Should You Bother?
So, the question that you should really be asking is whether or not if this is worth your time. If it is, go ahead. If it isn’t, don’t even bother wasting your time with it.
Spaced repetition is great for its simplicity of implementation, and for its broad use capability (or in other words, the collection of possible applications it has). You can use it for school, for work, for a personal hobby/interest. You can use it for anything.
In my personal opinion, I think it is worth it – but do not, do not depend on it. If you have lots of time in your hands, and the concepts you’re reviewing are complex and not straightforward, don’t. But if what you’re studying is hard (but simple), requires lots of studying and preparation regardless, and takes a majority a lot of time to grasp, it might be a good idea.
STEM-focused subjects are the ones that are especially useful to go after with this technique, given that in order to master it anyways, they require consistent practice again and again.
Conclusion
Repetition, and spacing out your repetition, is good enough of a technique to fuel your learning process and have you do well in school. Repetition is necessary to remember a load of things, but it is -at the end of the day- an add-on. You have to already have a solidified method for learning and memorization, and if you don’t already have one, this was all for nothing.
If you’re interested in learning about other study tactics, like SQ3R or the Pomodoro Technique, feel free to check them out!
