TJL #62: Make flashcards as you go (Daily productivity #37)

Productivity tips that work for me and might work for you

Daily productivity #37

Make flashcards as you go.

I hate forgetting things. Read my previous articles about how to use active recall to stop forgetting things:

• TJL #32: Use active recall (Daily productivity #7)

• TJL #57: Stop forgetting things (Daily productivity #32)

What I currently do as a “system” to not forget things is to make flashcards as I go along.

Example

Right now I’m working on a small toy application where a user can upload a file by dragging it to the dropzone. Then I apply some algorithm over it and voila, something happens.

I was wondering how to access the file from the dropzone and send it to the backend, but I first had to figure out how!

After struggling for a while and reading the docs I finally found the answer! I had to use the “onDrop = useCallback(acceptedfiles)” callback.

The “normal” thing to do here is to just apply this function and move on with your life.

What I have trained myself to do now is recognise that I need to turn this into a flashcard to not forget this!

The problem is that if you just apply this and then move on with your life then there is no guarantee that you are going to remember this. If you do something once, your brain doesn’t necessarily store it.

On the other hand, if you turn it into a flashcard that you regularly review… then yeah, you brain remembers it! So I turned it into a flashcard!

Conclusion

Imagine someone who has to look up how to hammer in a nail every time, that’s silly! If you want to remember something later, invest a small bit of effort and turn it into a flashcard!

Previous TJLs

Read my previous TJLs by following on the links down below:

• TJL #1: How to conduct a weekly review

• TJL #2: How to set up a StackNavigator in React-native

• TJL #3: Money is not wealth

• TJL #4: You get rich by owning things

• TJL #5: How to not be overwhelmed

• TJL #6: How to remember the difference between margin and padding

• TJL #7: According to Jeff Bezos there are two types of failure

• TJL #8: A stupid coding mistake

• TJL #9: Akrasia

• TJL #10: How to set goals like Google

• TJL #11: How to write great copy for your startup product

• TJL #12: How to change font in React

• TJL #13: Civilisation advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them

• TJL #14: The Motivation-Skill Dichotomy

• TJL #15: No plan is also a plan

• TJL #16: How to understand difficult code

• TJL #17: How to write self-help books

• TJL #18: The power of precommitment

• TJL #19: Reflections on my first remote project (part 1)

• TJL #20: Reflections on my first remote project (part 2)

• TJL #21: Three small things

• TJL #22: Building Wedje (part 1)

• TJL #23: Building Wedje (part 2)

• TJL #24: Obscurity is good

• TJL #25: Zettelkasten method

• TJL #26: Use a checkbox (Daily Productivity #1)

• TJL #27: Be aware of the spotlight effect (Daily productivity #2)

• TJL #28: Start with the upper-left hand brick (Daily Productivity #3)

• TJL #29: It doesn’t matter where you take it from, what matters is where you take it to (Daily productivity #4)

• TJL #30: Start with writing your README (Daily productivity #5)

• TJL #31: Work with an outline (Daily productivity #6)

• TJL #32: Use active recall (Daily productivity #7)

• TJL #33: Use quadrants (Daily productivity #8)

• TJL #34: How to get started (Daily productivity #9)

• TJL #35: Use the Pomodoro technique (Daily productivity #10)

• TJL #36: How to handle your negative feelings (Daily productivity #11)

• TJL #37: Imagine the work, not the reward (Daily productivity #12)

• TJL #38: Separate your writing from editing (Daily productivity #13)

• TJL #39: Make it visual (Daily productivity #14)

• TJL #40: Make it pleasurable (Daily productivity #15)

• TJL #41: Don't be ashamed to ask for help (Daily productivity #16)

• TJL #42: Block all distractions (Daily productivity #17)

• TJL #43: Don't expect perfection (Daily productivity #18)

• TJL #44: Sweep up every day (Daily productivity #19)

• TJL #45: Make fewer decisions (Daily productivity #20)

• TJL #46: Copy the greats (Daily productivity #21)

• TJL #47: Play some office music (Daily productivity #22)

• TJL #48: Focus on interests, not positions (Daily productivity #23)

• TJL #49: Eat your own dogfood (Daily productivity #24)

• TJL #50: Delete all your code (Daily productivity #25)

• TJL #51: Keep a (dis)traction list (Daily productivity #26)

• TJL #52: Don't be scared to fail (Daily productivity #27)

• TJL #53: Don't underline (Daily productivity #28)

• TJL #54: Change your font to Comic Sans (Daily productivity #29)

• TJL #55: Be more coachable (Daily productivity #30)

• TJL #56: Batch your tasks (Daily productivity #31)

• TJL #57: Stop forgetting things (Daily productivity #32)

• TJL #58: Manage your time proactively (Daily productivity #33)

• TJL #59: Limit what you save (Daily productivity #34)

• TJL #60: Think of future you (Daily productivity #35)

• TJL #61: Build momentum (Daily productivity #36)