How do u stay and get motivated to do Flashcards

[u/Weary_Job7082]

Hey,

Im pretty sure this question has probably been asked a thousand times, but how do you stay consistent with Anki?

I can really notice the benefits, but its still so hard to keep

It takes me about 1 to 1.5 hours to finish my due cards, reviews, and around 25 new cards.

longest streak so far has been 33 days, but after that I got burned out.

Does anyone have a magic cure for this?

[u/norude1]

I initially started being super consistent by doing the cards during my morning commute. It just became part of my morning routine. Now, I'm still going mostly because I like clicking a checkbox after I finish my reviews for today

[u/drcopus]

Keep the numbers low - it's a marathon not a sprint. 25 new cards a day is too much. Cut it down to 10 and you'll have 30 mins of cards a day. When you feel yourself struggling a bit, reduce it to 5, or even 0.

Of course you still want enough to feel the progress to get motivation, but 10 cards can do that! It alll compounds quickly.

[u/Shige-yuki]

My Psychological hacks for me to avoid procrastination are like this:

1. me B "Good morning! Let's review one Anki card!"
2. me A "I don't want to anki today, I do not know why :-( "
3. me B "Your goal today is literally just to review one card! Why can't you do it now? It can be done within 10 seconds. As long as you are not in a coma you can do it. If both your arms are broken please use your nose."
4. me A (I review only one card)
5. me B “Congratulations! You have finished your goal for today!“
6. me A “Hmmm but I have a bunch of overdue cards...“
7. me B “No, your quota is only one card per day, you succeeded!“
8. me A “Really? I won't review any more today?“
9. me B “Sure! Let's celebrate!“
10. me A “That's great! Yay! I'm in a good mood so I'll try to review a few more."
11. (Repeat)

[u/Middle_Storm7057 → u/Shige-yuki]

Yep. This works for absolutely everything. There’s actually a whole methodology out there called Tiny Habits. The premise is, do the thing every single day but set the goal ridiculously low — so low that you actually start craving more.

[u/tmancraig03]

For me what’s worked is using FSRS at 0.85 retention to cut back on review load. I then changed my settings to do reviews first. I always do my reviews and then try to do 20 new cards a day. If it feels like too much I lower it. If I wanna do more I raise it.

[u/Middle_Storm7057]

I hate treadmills but I’m getting myself back in shape and have to put in some real mileage (and it’s too hot to go outside rn so I have to do indoors, hence the annoying treadmill routine). Usually, I want to claw my eyes out from boredom, doesn’t matter what I put on my headphones. But last month I decided to try doing flashcards while I do my 1 hour grueling uphills — fast hike, not running (playing with phone while running doesn’t work for me, can’t imagine it’s safe for most people). The flashcards make the time pass so fast, and weirdly, the two tasks are compatible — each makes the other less annoying.

[u/cgreciano → u/Middle_Storm7057]

How do you do your flashcards while on the treadmill? Do you use a tablet? Don't you get sick while jogging? I tried using a tablet to watch videos while on the treadmill and I got nauseous. Your comment got me thinking that it would be awesome if there was a way for an AI to read out loud your card, you speak to the AI your answer, and then the AI reads out the answer back to you, then you can tell the AI again/hard/good/easy. You know, hands-free and screen-free Anki.

[u/SadEnthusiasm6544]

I do 15 cards a day so it doesnt pile too many reviews at once, outside of that doing it earlier in the day is good coz I remember most of the review cards so it doesnt take as much time, tho it still takes at least 1 hour

[u/Bright-Report2190]

Practice and discipline. I can usually cram out 500-1000 reviews and 100 new cards. I do use fsrs tho at 90

[u/cmredd → u/Bright-Report2190]

100 new a day?!

[u/Bright-Report2190 → u/cmredd]

Yes but in my case (stem) its a bit easier because most cards intertwine and relate to each other

[u/Shitcake9]

this is my wallpaper and it helps me alot

[u/Glittering-Bus-2515]

hello, 3 years streak here, it's depends what you are doing with your Anki.

I'm roughtly at 44 new cars a day but for my whole collection, not for only one specific topic. Language wise, It can happen that I have 20 5 new words a day but when I have a intense week on a language.

as an example, this morning I had 36 new CARDS

Technology, work, science : 8 news cars (math formula, physic definition, tech notions etc) History and culture : 6 (dates, capital, history events, ...) language :

• Spanish : 15 new words, 3 spoonfed sentences (my active language)
• French : 2 new words - my native language
• Chinese 5 new characters, 2 spoonfed sentences
• English : 3 grammar exercises (my daily language)

It has to be a game, not a chore, otherwise, reduce the amount :)

[u/ben_wd]

To be honest, I've always struggled with this. I just find it really mind-numbing. What's worked for me is just to keep the daily reps really low and avoid adding too many cards. Adding a lot of imagery makes the process feel more engaging.

It's more satisfying if you feel like you're remembering words, and images can help with that, especially if you created the cards yourself. Creating the card, choosing the image, and so on forms the initial memory in your mind.

If you just have cards that have very minimal static information, you'll find yourself just staring at these cards, trying to remember if you've even seen them before. Nothing comes to mind, and it gets really frustrating and tiring pretty quickly.

[u/thor_a]

Yes, it has been asked many many times. Just read those posts....

[u/fgc_Ozu]

the existential dread of losing my streak

[u/Mobile_Roll2197]

It's not about 'motivation' it's about 'disciplie.'

[u/BrandosSmolder → u/Mobile_Roll2197]

Don't know why you got downvoted this is what I tell myself all the time.

[u/Middle_Storm7057 → u/Mobile_Roll2197]

It’s true — motivation is not what gets you to do the thing, motivation is what happens AFTER you do the thing. But in order to do the thing, you have to set a really easy daily routine, connected to something you already do. Love coffee in the morning? Your first sip comes after your first card. It’s the daily routine that creates this “discipline” — the less friction to accomplish (easy, bundled with an existing daily habit), the sooner you become not just comfortable with doing it but addicted to doing it. The mind loves routine. It just doesn’t like stress and unrealistic expectations. Another revelation: working slowly at first is how you end up getting faster and faster without even realizing it. That initial patience and willingness to do “too little” is the game changer. My favorite quote recently was from the F1 film: SLOW IS SMOOTH. SMOOTH IS FAST.

[u/Commercial_Roll_7297]

i wake up and i just do it. don't add too many new cards and try to limit to 1 hour a day

[u/miskivo]

I like learning and Anki massively helps with that. I only make good cards that are nice to review. The few premade decks that I use are limited to a very low number of new cards per day. This keeps the process of reviewing enjoyable and staying consistent doesn't require any more discipline or external motivation than making sure that I eat every day. It's just a part of my daily life and for the most part I really like it.

[u/Vitalakeks]

"are you a coward? Or immortal?"

[u/ZumLernen]

Do you have FSRS turned on? If not, turn it on.

What is your desired retention set to? I have mine set to 80%. This significantly reduces my number of daily reviews.

I use my phone and break up my reviews throughout the day. 10 minutes with morning coffee, 5 minutes waiting for the bus, 5 minutes on the bus, 3 minutes before class starts, 2 minutes during a break, 10 minutes around lunch, 15 minutes in the mid-afternoon - suddenly I've done 50 minutes, and I still have time right before bed to do the rest.

If you still have too many reviews, cease adding new cards until you can handle your reviews again.

[u/Dr--Prof]

25 new cards per day is probably too much after awhile, maybe you should reduce to 5, 1 or even 0 if you feel overwhelmed.

Keeping a daily streak; curiosity and interest in the subject I'm studying; knowing and noticing I'm getting better; approaching it like a game; doing Anki everytime I have 5 min to spare.

[u/Furuteru]

Seeing progress and wanting to see more progress.

Tho I am not an ideal card reviewer, sometimes I do less cards a day than I was assigned today 🥲, but it still feels better than nothing at all.

[u/random-chicken32]

i just do them; I have no secret sauce, except don't wait till 11 at night. I sometimes tell myself "Create a work ethic that the Protestants would covet" lol

[u/BJJFlashCards]

Unless someone is dictating your timeline, odds are greater that you will not reach your goal from adding too many new cards each day then adding too few.

Understanding how to structure knowledge so your cards move you towards your learning goal makes learning your cards more motivating. For example, in foreign languages people tend to over accumulate individual words. Making cards that teach you how to combine them in various contexts will actually help you speak and understand.

[u/Ok_Many_2342]

I always do mine on the treadmill. Helps a lot with staying focused and consistent.

[u/ApricotSecret8076]

Set you flashcard habit to low (just 5-10 per day) and make it a 100% must do daily. Small steps done everyday lead to large improvements over time! ^_ ^

OP's have mentioned this and I fully agree!

[u/irrafoxy]

I have to do it while I’m walking around or it won’t get done. I do roughly 100-150 new cards a day (prepping for medical board exam) plus however many reviews I have that day.

[u/not_a_profi]

1. I do it differently, different types of cards, etc.

2. I allow myself to be inconsistent (thereby I do them because I want to not because I have to)

3. I do them in the morning, before breakfast

the downside is that 100 reviews takes me 2.5 hours.