I have about 300 cards in my deck right now, and I’ve had this deck for about 6 months. I try to do a few cards each morning without forcing myself to complete all cards that are due (although often I do). This is because I’m trying to build the habit into my work flow and I find if I give myself the option to quit after 3 cards if I’m really busy that it’s better than losing the habit altogether for a month.
I want to warn you that I don’t think this number (300 in a 6 month time span) very accurately represents how many cards I add when I find something interesting. I’m a PhD student and the last 6 months I’ve been mostly tweaking a program and writing my thesis (so doing things that I don’t get a lot of new knowledge to add into the system). So most of those 300 cards are from short spurts of reading interesting books, rather than what it would be if I were in the midst of researching something new. (I also usually make multiple cards for a single image that I add, asking the question in different ways that emphasize different things I think are important)
For context: I have had larger decks in the past, multiple deck systems, etc etc., but all previous attempts were eventually abandoned because of something like: it takes a long time to add new equations or transcribe text from a book by hand → therefore I slowly add fewer and fewer cards, and the ones I do are of lower quality because I would cut corners to save time → the deck becomes less useful because I’m just not adding things that are important → as the deck becomes less relevant I stop studying it → once I miss a month of studying catching up seems useless.
I’m surprised that I’ve added about twice as many cards as you have (621) in the past 6 months. I too am working on a PhD, but to be fair, I’ve set aside time especially for Anki.
At the risk of other-optimizing, I might suggest adding a small number of quality cards daily. I used to add cards in bursts, but I’ve found adding a small number daily to be much easier. I also would recommend revising cards later, rather than starting over.
That’s what I was trying to explain in the last paragraph: before I started using images I would get lazy and either not add cards or the ones I did add were of low quality because I was trying to do them so quickly. In the end instead of deleting large swaths of poorly made cards I just started over.
I wasn’t asked, but thought I would answer anyway. I have 802 cards at the moment. 147 are suspended.
I first became aware of SRS in 2005 or so, and I started using it in fall 2009 for a mechanical vibrations course. There was a considerable speed advantage on the exams if you memorized the Laplace transform table and a number of differentiation and integration rules. After that course I fell in and out of the habit. I started using Beeminder to force myself to do my reviews and add new cards regularly in May of this year, and I’ve added the vast majority of the cards I have since then.
Beeminder and Anki are an amazing combination. I highly recommend this if you are not good about regularly reviewing or adding new cards. Right now I review daily, and I can earn a 1 on Beeminder if I finish all cards (including new ones) or spend half an hour reviewing in total. An average review involves around 50 cards and takes roughly a half hour (the time limit is mostly for when I am very busy, and it is rarely invoked).
How many cards do you have in your deck and for how long do you use it?
I have about 300 cards in my deck right now, and I’ve had this deck for about 6 months. I try to do a few cards each morning without forcing myself to complete all cards that are due (although often I do). This is because I’m trying to build the habit into my work flow and I find if I give myself the option to quit after 3 cards if I’m really busy that it’s better than losing the habit altogether for a month.
I want to warn you that I don’t think this number (300 in a 6 month time span) very accurately represents how many cards I add when I find something interesting. I’m a PhD student and the last 6 months I’ve been mostly tweaking a program and writing my thesis (so doing things that I don’t get a lot of new knowledge to add into the system). So most of those 300 cards are from short spurts of reading interesting books, rather than what it would be if I were in the midst of researching something new. (I also usually make multiple cards for a single image that I add, asking the question in different ways that emphasize different things I think are important)
For context: I have had larger decks in the past, multiple deck systems, etc etc., but all previous attempts were eventually abandoned because of something like: it takes a long time to add new equations or transcribe text from a book by hand → therefore I slowly add fewer and fewer cards, and the ones I do are of lower quality because I would cut corners to save time → the deck becomes less useful because I’m just not adding things that are important → as the deck becomes less relevant I stop studying it → once I miss a month of studying catching up seems useless.
I’m surprised that I’ve added about twice as many cards as you have (621) in the past 6 months. I too am working on a PhD, but to be fair, I’ve set aside time especially for Anki.
At the risk of other-optimizing, I might suggest adding a small number of quality cards daily. I used to add cards in bursts, but I’ve found adding a small number daily to be much easier. I also would recommend revising cards later, rather than starting over.
If the problem is only in adding new cards why did you abandon old decks? Reviewing them doesn’t need you to add new cards.
That’s what I was trying to explain in the last paragraph: before I started using images I would get lazy and either not add cards or the ones I did add were of low quality because I was trying to do them so quickly. In the end instead of deleting large swaths of poorly made cards I just started over.
I wasn’t asked, but thought I would answer anyway. I have 802 cards at the moment. 147 are suspended.
I first became aware of SRS in 2005 or so, and I started using it in fall 2009 for a mechanical vibrations course. There was a considerable speed advantage on the exams if you memorized the Laplace transform table and a number of differentiation and integration rules. After that course I fell in and out of the habit. I started using Beeminder to force myself to do my reviews and add new cards regularly in May of this year, and I’ve added the vast majority of the cards I have since then.
Beeminder and Anki are an amazing combination. I highly recommend this if you are not good about regularly reviewing or adding new cards. Right now I review daily, and I can earn a 1 on Beeminder if I finish all cards (including new ones) or spend half an hour reviewing in total. An average review involves around 50 cards and takes roughly a half hour (the time limit is mostly for when I am very busy, and it is rarely invoked).