Spaced Repetition Without a Complicated System

Spread the encounters out

Spaced repetition means coming back to material after a gap, so your reviews are spread out over time and not crammed into one sitting. A large meta-analysis found that spacing practice out helped people learn verbal material [1]. A notebook and a few planned review dates are enough to start. You can add software later if you want it.

Start with one small topic

Pick something specific, like five terms from a lecture, and turn each one into a question you can answer without looking. Reviews of learning techniques rate practice testing as a useful approach [2]. Keep your first set short enough that reviewing it doesn't turn into another backlog.

Try a loose first schedule

You could revisit the questions tomorrow, again a few days later, and once more the following week. Treat that as a starting point. No single sequence works best for everyone. Answer each question before you check it, and shorten the gap for anything that's still hard. Questions you answer easily can wait longer, as far as your deadline allows.

Put reviews where you will see them

Add dated review tasks to FocusCrew's planner, and give each date a concrete action, such as "answer the five enzyme questions." Time blocking helps you set aside the time. When a planned review doesn't happen, flexible habits make it easier to pick up again.

Keep the system lighter than the studying

Before you keep adding new material, review a small sample of the old. If the list gets out of hand, put course objectives and the gaps that keep coming back first. You don't have to keep every flashcard forever. Size the routine to the time you actually have.

References

1. Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. Read the article.
2. Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. Read the article.