Anki

I recently installed the Anki app to my phone.  It is a flash cards app.  I have used flash cards off an on in the past to help learn languages and memorize scripture passages.  They have helped me learn things but they were a hassle because

• If I was making flash cards for vocabulary, I didn't want to waste a whole 3 by 5 card on one word.  I therefore cut 3 by 5 cards into fourths.  I then marked each side with a distinctive color so that I knew which side was the front and which side was the back.
• If I was making flash cards for long passages to memorize, it took a long time to write out each passage.  Some of this time was useful because it helped me learn; however, I feel that I learned faster once I had the card and was free to give my full attention to the memorizing task.  Also, handwriting long passages led to the occasional error, which means I ended up memorizing some things slightly incorrectly.
• I did try printing out these passages, cutting them out, and pasting them onto a 3 by 5 card, but this was still a bit of a hassle.
• The advantage of flash cards is that they can be reviewed while one has a spare moment--e.g. while walking to class, while waiting for some kind of appointment to start, etc.--but the problem is figuring out where to stash them.
• The biggest issue was that I had a hard time trying to organize a regular review of my cards.  I didn't have a good way of figuring out how to balance studying new cards and reviewing old cards on a regular basis.

Anki is better in all of these issues.

• I can create cards by copying and pasting things into the computer and then loading it all onto my phone.  It's quick and easy.
• I just have to carry around my phone, which I do anyway.
• The program is set up to keep track of how much I have reviewed each card.  Each time I see a card, I can input whether I thought the card was "hard", "good", or "easy" and the program will set that card for review based on my self-assessment.

I have been using it for a couple weeks now, and I really feel like it is helping me a lot.  It has been a great study tool.

Productivity, 2 Weeks Later

I blogged about productivity about two weeks ago.  In said post, I said that I would check my progress in two weeks time.  Here is what I am seeing.

• I have the hardest time remembering to do all of the simple little things I ought to be doing every day.  What has worked for me during these two weeks is keeping a to-do list.  I got a to-do list app for my phone which I have been using to keep track of everything.  I have small daily tasks repeat every day.  Every time I think of something random that I ought to do, or that would be good to do, I put it on my to-do list so that I make sure that I remember it.  My progress on this front has been satisfying.  I have had a virtually perfect record on my small daily tasks, and I have taken care of a lot of one-time tasks that either (1) I had put off for a long time or (2) if I hadn't had written them down, I might not have done them.
• I still have a lot of room for improvement, unfortunately.  Obviously it is not realistic to expect that I can solve all of my problems in two weeks.  However, I have been inspired by the good things that I have been doing lately and have set a few more goals to improve.
• I feel better when I do what I am supposed to.  I feel like doing what I am supposed to for an extended period of time will give me a lot of personal strength.  We'll see how I am doing in three months.