Blog
Notes on memory, testing and the habits that make studying stick.
A badge for opening the app every day is a vanity metric. A badge for knowing when you actually know something is a different kind of signal.
ProductA deck is only as trustworthy as whatever it's based on. Encodr lets a class carry its own bibliography, and lets any card point straight to the entry that backs it.
ProductHanding out one code shares a whole class. Editing a card you don't own doesn't touch the original - here's what actually happens instead.
ProductA memory trick you write on your own card is different from a private note you jot on someone else's. Encodr treats them differently on purpose.
ProductQuizlet is easy to start and easy to use. What it doesn't do is decide when you should see a card again - and that's most of the job.
ProductPhysical index cards get the actual studying right. What they can't do is remember when to show you a card - you have to.
ProductA well-organised notes doc is genuinely useful for one thing - looking something up. It's not built for the other thing you need, which is remembering it without looking.
ProductThe scheduling under the hood solves the same problem. Almost everything around it is different, and that's where the actual decision lives.
ProductA spaced repetition app that needs signal is an app that misses exactly the days it was supposed to save you on.
ProductA huge deck is not a huge daily workload, if the scheduling is doing its job. Here's why the math actually works out.
ProductThe interval ladder is simple on purpose. Here's exactly how a card climbs it, and why nothing else about the card matters to the schedule.
ProductThe two most common flashcard formats test different things. Picking the wrong one for the material is why some decks feel useless.
ProductSome of your best study time is spent driving, walking, or doing dishes. Voice mode is built for the minutes you'd otherwise waste.
ProductYou don't have to start over. Here's what actually happens to your cards, your progress, and your scheduling when you import.
ProductStarting from a finished deck and starting from a blank one solve different problems. Most people need both, at different times.
ProductYou can hand a chat assistant your syllabus, your notes, or a PDF and have it write cards directly into your account. Here's what that actually looks like.
Study scienceYour sense of "I've got this" is a judgment your brain makes cheaply, using the wrong evidence. Here's what it actually tracks.
Study scienceComing up with an answer yourself, even a wrong one, teaches you more than being handed the right one.
Study scienceWorking memory doesn't get bigger with expertise. What gets bigger is the size of the pieces it can hold.
Study scienceThe all-nighter isn't a study strategy with a downside. It's skipping the step where most of the learning happens.
Study scienceIt's the most common study technique in the world, and it's one of the least effective ones we've actually measured.
Study scienceTwo study sessions can look identical from the outside and produce completely different results, depending on one thing.
Study scienceThe gap between how prepared you feel and how prepared you are isn't random. It's predictable, and it's caused by how you studied.
Study scienceStudying one topic at a time feels efficient. Mixing topics together produces better results, for a specific and slightly annoying reason.
Study scienceCramming isn't irrational. It optimises for the wrong exam - the one tomorrow, not the one that matters in a month.
Study scienceThe single best-supported finding in learning science is also the easiest to skip. Here's what it actually says.
Study scienceForgetting isn't a study failure. It's a predictable process, and once you can predict it, you can schedule around it.
Study scienceIf a study method feels smooth and comfortable, that's usually a sign it isn't building much memory.
Study scienceRe-reading feels productive because it feels easy. That feeling is the problem.
Study scienceThe idea is old, simple, and almost always explained badly. Here is the version that is useful.
Study scienceMost failed decks are not a discipline problem. They are a card-writing problem.