Why Spaced Repetition Is So Important
A few weeks ago, I was thinking about how I hadn’t tried to memorize anything in a long time. And when I finally did, I forgot to do the most important part! But let me start from the beginning.
When I was young, I’d often say that I had a better memory than most children (okay that’s too far back). One day I found some amazing people on the internet who could memorize an absurd amount of information.
Naturally, the first thought that came to my mind was, how could I learn to do that too?
Then I found out about the memory palace, and how to memorize an insane amount of information. I started to use memory palace to memorize things, not just to test out and get more familiar with the technique, but to also improve my memory (and, if the situation presents itself, to show off how good my memory is😀).
Fast forward to today and it has been quite some time since I tried to memorize anything, which is quite understandable since the last thing I did was to memorize 1000 digits of pi (there is that show-offing I was talking about).
Since that took quite a toll on me I decided to step away from memorizing things for some time.
Now I am back!
After my long pause (I don’t know if it was that long, but for the sake of the dramatic effect, let’s say that it was), the first thing I decided to memorize was the 100 most populous (is that even a word?) US cities.
While it might seem like too much to memorize the names of 100 cities when you have been using the memory palace for a long time, it isn’t that hard.
Anyway, after some struggle, I managed to make my memory palace and memorize all 100 cities.
But, I forgot the most important part.
I didn’t properly schedule the revision times. Whenever I learn or memorize something new, I schedule the time when I have to revise the material I learned using a technique called spaced repetition. That looks something like this:
Revision number 1: One day after I learned the material
Revision number 2: Two days after I learned the material
Revision number 3: Three to four days after I learned the material
Revision number 4: Five to seven days after I learned the material
And so on. If you don’t revise the thing you learned, after some time you will forget it.
This is called the forgetting curve.
And if you don’t properly revise, you will pay the ultimate price (not really, you will just have to learn the material again). But not to worry, there is no way that a seasoned learning veteran such as myself would make such a mistake, right? (you can already see where this is going).
I forgot to make the schedule, and one week later, when I finally remembered, the damage was already done.
The result: I could recall only 85 out of 100 cities.
While this might seem like a good result, let me tell you why it just looks better than it really is:
I spend a lot of time when building my memory palaces so it’s natural that I remember quite a lot.
I couldn’t remember the exact names of some cities, so I just guessed at random until I got it right, which can hardly be called memorization
Even before I started to memorize the 100 most populated cities, I knew more than 20 right from the start
The only thing I could do now was to rebuild the parts of my memory palace I couldn’t remember. At the end of the day, it didn’t take that much time, but the situation would have been a lot worse had I been studying for an important exam and had little time to revise.
Don’t make the same mistake as me.
Don’t just learn the material on time and hope that it sticks. Whenever you learn something new, use spaced repetition to make sure you don’t forget it (if you want to learn more about spaced repetition, go here).
The whole reason I forgot about revision is that I didn’t think it was that important (even if I tell myself I did, my actions didn’t reflect my thoughts, which is just as bad).
Remember: Revising the material is just as important as learning the material.
📰 Things I Found Interesting
Book - The Trial by Franz Kafka - I had to stop myself from reading the whole novel in one day. I don’t know what made me want to continue reading this novel. While many praise Kafka as an excellent writer, I don’t think that was why I enjoyed the novel so much. The only way to experience it is to read it for yourself.
YouTube Video - I Tried the Internet's HARDEST Fitness Challenge - It’s interesting how you have to have 2 45-minute workouts, while only needing to read 10 pages of a book every day to complete this challenge. When you are just starting to form a habit it’s far better to start with something small (like reading 10 pages of a book daily) than something really hard (like having 2 45-minute workouts). Well, it is a fitness challenge, so I guess it wouldn’t be a challenge if it was too easy (but I still think that 2 45-minute workouts are too much, especially when you are just starting to build a habit)
My Latest Blog Post
How To Study Every Day And Why You Should Do It Too - Studying every day is a great way to build a habit of constant learning. The best part is that you won’t need to cram everything one week before the test. You can start to study every day with just a few simple steps.
What Did You Learn This Week?
Share something you learned this week, whether you were studying something important or just for your own interest and joy.
I am always interested to see what other people learn about and if I can help them in some way.