Hello Reader,

Back in 2017 I was a freakin’ teenager with dementia.

Not literally, of course — I grasped new concepts quickly if there were visuals, but everything else, ESPECIALLY isolated facts, I found really hard to remember.

So whenever we had “memorization” type of tests, I’d become a SOLID 5/10 student.

This led me to my “a-ha moment”...

If I had to choose one profession I’d learn from (for memorization), I’d choose MEDICINE.

After all, they have a LOT to remember and have very little time, so how come they’re able to remember everything?

I learned two things:

1. The successful ones have a repeatable process to remember information -— even the isolated facts
2. They also use leverage and accomplish multiple things (often in the future) with just one effort

So today I’m going to give you the fast-track to do both of that with Anki.

By the end of this lesson, you will learn:

• How to enjoyably use the ultimate add-on for Anatomy (also: the BIGGEST mistake people make when using it)
• How to use the “Breakdown Technique” to remember a LOT of Anatomical terminology without needing a card for everything
• My secret to making a lot of facts stick to in your long-term memory -— the “Metamnemonic Card”
• The Image Recognition Trap that leads you to the illusion of knowing

First, let’s get you geared up.

Plan - Setting up to win

The setup is concise:

1. We want to get as much as possible from your lectures by taking Lean Cornell Notes
2. We also want the very specific details of Anatomy so we block out a separate study time

On your computer:

1. Install Image Occlusion add on. If you’re not familiar yet, (...really?) it lets you do cover-ups of certain labels or parts so you can just “reveal” them later as the “answer”.
2. Install a fast screenshot/annotation software. Monosnap for Mac, ShareX for Windows.

Step 2. Encode

For your note-taking, EXPECT that you will miss a lot in class. Don’t panic, don’t fret — just focus on absorbing as much as possible (using your Lean Cornell Notes as well) and THEN study the remaining from your textbooks.

For encoding, you have two options:

First option is to use what I (pretentiously) call the Breakdown Technique.

Break the words down into PREFIX/SUFFIX + ROOT WORD, then learn why those combinations are used.

Here’s an example…

If "myo" means "relating to muscle" and "fibril" means "fibers", then "myofibrils" probably mean "muscle fibers".

If “quadri” means “four” and “cep” means “head”, then “quadricep femoris” probably means “four head muscle located in your femur.”

THIS IS YOUR PRIORITY.

You know what? To prove a point, let me share a bit about myself…

I am an engineer by profession, but I know a LOT about Anatomy because of two things:

1. I always try to relate them to my training
2. I ALWAYS try to break down words into prefix, suffix, and root words

And I haven’t even used Anki for Anatomy!

So if an engineer who is only good with numbers and logic can remember Anatomy without Anki, what makes you think that you can’t? (rhetorical question, heh)

Second option to encode is to use Memory Techniques.

I don’t recommend this as a go-to, but whenever I use them here are my go-to techniques:

1. Mnemonics
2. Creating a wildly funny story around a bunch of hard-to-remember things
3. I even use what I learn as puns (ok maybe I’m that lame friend and I don’t know it yet)
4. Memory Palace Technique

There’s a lot of content on this online, and you can start studying them in the Art of Memory website. 🙂

Step 3. Ankify

Alright, card making time! We have three phases to this:

#1. MOST IMPORTANT: Make cards for etymology.

These are the root words, prefixes, and suffixes that you broke down in the Encode phase.

#2. Refactored Anatomy cards. See, most people when they use Image Occlusion, they make cards like that for their ENTIRE TEXTBOOK without even knowing what the heck they’re covering up.

But less worse, even if you use it correctly...

What often happens is that you’ll remember the IMAGE but not actually cards.

Don't let this happen to you! Don't let "remembering the image" rule over "remembering the part."

Here’s an example. Instead of this one...

You can break it down into easier, less overwhelming chunks so long as the parts are still recognizable...

And then you can proceed to make your image occlusions.

#3 Metamnemonic cards. Lastly, if you used memory techniques, you must use metamnemonic cards — cards that ask you about your memory techniques.

This will help you avoid forgetting the meaning of your mnemonics 🙂

Step 4. Spaced Repetition

Here, same as discussed in the previous emails.

The thing, though, is you can actually separate Anatomy chapters/topics into their own subdecks because they’re not that strongly related.

Step 5. Improve

As you go through your classes, you could get bits and pieces of etymology (prefixes and suffixes) which you can use for a LOT of subjects.

Make that your default way of thinking when you’re studying subjects like these.

This doesn’t just apply to Anatomy, but with every fact-heavy subject as well

Words aren’t just a random combination of letters -— you can think of them as cultural artifacts that stood the test of time.

They were once formed to refer to something more easily, and over time turned out to be the most relevant and agreed-upon way of describing something.

Everything has an origin. If you find it hard to remember something, you can at least remember why they existed in the first place. 🙂

Question for you:

What’s your biggest takeaway from this lesson?

Hit reply if you want to really practice your memory ;)

To smarter studying,
Al Khan