[ayrtondesozzla]

I recommend using Anki (or whatever software does the job) to commit everyday, normal stuff that comes up to long-term memory.

Anki has desktop and phone apps, and if you make an account online, you can connect both to it and sync across the two devices with no effort. I can do my daily review and add cards from laptop or phone whenever something comes up.

I use no subdecks, and zero complex features. Add cards, edit in the "browser", delete sometimes if I've second thoughts. 40 new cards each day, reviewing is ~45 mins and a joy.

All that to say - it's a direct antidote to the issues being described here. I rush to new things less, and spend much more time consolidating and forming links between stuff I know or "knew".

It's directly pushing me towards behaviour that fits the reality of how my brain works. Tabs are being closed with me saying to myself - I'll learn the name of the author and book for now, that's a good start.

Great for birthdays, names, an anecdote you loved, a little idea you had, fleshing out your geography, history, knowledge of plants, lyrics, nuggets from the Common Lisp book you're doing, etc etc.

So for me one huge thing to reclaim your brain and get acquainted with your memory is - flashcards!

[tailspin2019]

This is very interesting. I’m aware of Anki/flash cards for helping with learning specific topics, but this more general usage that you’re describing is extremely intriguing!

I’m inspired to add something like this to my workflow.

I’d be curious to hear more about how/why you got started with this habit?

[ayrtondesozzla]

https://augmentingcognition.com/ltm.html I can't remember what I saw that lead me to that essay, but it got me thinking I should give flashcards another go.

Like I guess many people, I also had tried once or twice, but very much the common downloading a couple of other people's decks then stopping a couple of days later.

I'm not inplementing what he suggests very much at all in the end - but the idea is at least hinted at there, I think.

[ayrtondesozzla]

For the specific idea, I'm experimenting with a piece of wisdom shared with me once by a friend who had an immense repertoire of Irish traditional tunes she remembered and played effortlessly. I knew a few hundred tunes, her, thousands.

I lamented the long road ahead of me, all these tunes to learn, and she said, no no, don't worry, just start by learning the tunes you already know!