Instead of specifying an exact routine—let’s look at the ingredients any such routine would have. Get the essential recipe right and the spices are up to you.

There are five main ingredients to include in any studying schedule you could dream up:

1. Instruction
2. Retrieval ...

Here’s your homework for today:

1. Pick something you’ve been trying to learn.
2. Go through each of the five ingredients. Which is missing or weak?
3. What’s one way you could add it in?
4. Go to the comments page and write down your response!

Bookworms a...

Not all understanding needs formal methods. With understanding as a goal, you change how you learn. The question stops being, “How do I cram all of this into my head?” and becomes, “How do I make all of this obvious?”

Feedback is obviously useful. But there are some common misconceptions. ...

The mechanism is less clear. Consolidation via deep sleep may play a role. Other theories suggest activating knowledge from different prior contexts makes more robust cues for retrieval (e.g. studying it from both you...

Retrieval means deliberately dredging up knowledge from your mind—not just passively exposing yourself to it.

Countless studies show retrieval practice works better than passive review . If you’re going to us...