[treetalker]

First learn the material. Then use SRS to schedule the practice of effortfully recalling the material just before you would have forgotten it.

I think too many people use SRS to learn the material instead.

As I recall, the creator of Supermemo had a list of 20 suggestions or so, in which he urged people to first comprehend the information; then to learn it; then to memorize it; and then to rehearse it (SRS) so as not to forget it.