● Daily

Study Smarter in 4 Weeks

Retrieval, spacing and elaboration, applied to what you are learning right now.

20 days · 15–60 min a day

…

About this program

For students and anyone learning something: a language, an exam, a new job. Each day you read about one strategy and use it on your own material, mostly with Recall Cards. These are the study strategies with the strongest evidence for remembering what you learn.

The plan

Week 1 · Test yourself

Retrieval practice: recalling beats rereading. Make a deck for something you are learning.

  1. Active Recall · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 14 min
  2. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Deep Work Timer · 35 min
  3. Feynman Technique · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 14 min
  4. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Deep Work Timer · 35 min
  5. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Reflection Prompts · 13 min

Week 2 · Space it out

Spacing: shorter sessions spread over days beat one long cram.

  1. Spaced Repetition · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 14 min
  2. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Deep Work Timer · 35 min
  3. Story Link Trainer · Story Linking · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 19 min
  4. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Deep Work Timer · 60 min
  5. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Reflection Prompts · 13 min

Week 3 · Make it meaningful

Ask why, explain it to yourself, add a picture, use a memory palace.

  1. Elaborative Interrogation · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 14 min
  2. Dual Coding · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Deep Work Timer · 39 min
  3. Memory Palace Builder · Method of Loci · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 17 min
  4. Self Explanation · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 14 min
  5. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Reflection Prompts · 13 min

Week 4 · Mix and check

Interleave topics, practise the hard parts, and check what you really know.

  1. Interleaving · Daily Circuit · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 20 min
  2. Deliberate Practice · Deep Work Timer · 54 min
  3. Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Deep Work Timer · 60 min
  4. Learning by Teaching · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · 14 min
  5. Metacognitive Reflection · Recall Cards (spaced repetition) · Reflection Prompts · 19 min

A practice plan, not a treatment or a test. You will get better at the exercises themselves; whether that carries over to daily life varies, so watch for it yourself.