Spaced Repetition is a proven method for enhanced learning and retention.

Here's how you can use it to learn smarter and faster:
1/ Last weekend, I shared a thread with a 5-step framework for improving your learning retention.

Step 5 was "Idea Exercise”—the concept of "flexing" an idea to commit it to memory.

This thread breaks down a highly-effective, science-backed approach to exercising new ideas:
2/ Spaced Repetition is a learning method in which information is consumed at increasing intervals until it's committed to long-term memory.

It leverages cognitive science—the way our brains work to convert short-term to long-term memory—to help you retain new information.
3/ Here's how it works:

Let's say you're trying to learn some facts about Apple—its history, segments, etc.

If this was for a college exam, you'd probably do this the "old fashioned way”—down some espresso, cram it into your mind, and hope you remember it for the test tomorrow.
4/ The problem: you're not in college anymore, and you want this learning for life, not for some one-off exam.

You want this to stick.

So instead of the old way, you go with the new way—Spaced Repetition.

The process would look something like this:
5/ You first consume the new information at 8am.

Now you start repetitions:
• Rep 1: 9am (1 hr later)
• Rep 2: 12pm (3 hrs later)
• Rep 3: 6pm (6 hrs later)
• Rep 4: 6am (12 hrs later)
• and so on...

The memory is reinforced at increasing intervals.
6/ Why does this work?

In simple terms, you can think of your brain as a muscle—each repetition is a "flex" of that muscle.

By steadily increasing the intervals, you are pushing the muscle with steadily more challenging loads.

You're forcing the retention muscle to grow.
7/ The science behind Spaced Repetition is fascinating.

Hermann Ebbinghaus—a German psychologist—was the first to identify its effect on retention.

In 1885, he published Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology, which became a groundbreaking work for the field.
8/ In this work, Ebbinghaus discussed his most famous finding: the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve (EFC for short).

The EFC maps the exponential loss of newly-learned information—it's sharp in the first 20 minutes, significant through an hour, and then levels off after a day.
9/ Ebbinghaus observed that each time the newly-learned information was reviewed, the EFC was essentially "reset" at the starting point, but with a slower decay curve.

This is important!

Spaced Repetitions had the effect of flattening the memory retention decay curve.
10/ Understanding the theory and science is key, but you need to put Spaced Repetition into action to adapt its use case for your purposes.

I plug it directly into my learning retention framework as part of "idea exercise”—give it a shot and see how it works for you.
11/ To summarize, Spaced Repetition is a powerful, science-backed learning and retention method.

To use it, try reviewing newly-learned information at increasing spaced intervals until it's committed to long-term memory.

Think of it as "idea exercise" at its finest!
I will be doing a deep-dive on my learning and retention framework in my upcoming newsletter piece this week.

Subscribe today so you don’t miss it: sahilbloom.substack.com
Follow me @SahilBloom for threads on frameworks & more.

If you are a job seeker aiming to leverage improved retention skills in your career, check out my job board, where I curate roles at high-growth companies in finance and tech.

New roles every week! pallet.xyz/list/sahil/jobs

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More from @SahilBloom

27 Sep
By now, you’ve probably heard that global supply chains are in a state of disarray.

Here's a simple breakdown of what’s causing it: Image
1/ There's a lot of talk right now about the global supply chain crisis.

@business published an article subtitled "Inside the Brutal Realities of Supply Chain Hell”—it's getting serious.

This thread provides my (very) simple framework for understanding the key drivers:
2/ First off, what are the visible impacts of the crisis?

Product delays (good luck getting appliances before 2022), product shortages (see semiconductors), port buildups (fly over LA and you'll see), and rampant freight costs (sorry, retailer margins).

It's pretty bad. Image
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26 Sep
What can the Chinese bamboo tree teach us about growth?

It has to be cared for every single day. It doesn’t break through the ground for 5 years, but once it breaks through, it can grow up to 100 feet in 5 weeks.

Lesson: Be patient. Growth happens gradually, then suddenly. Image
Another interesting insight I gleaned from this:

You have to be sure that the “care” you apply is sufficient and appropriate.

This means that your daily actions are compounding under the surface — pushing your personal flywheel with appropriate force and directional efficiency.
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Investing is about edge—an asymmetric information advantage.

No one has more information about you, than you.
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20 Sep
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Here’s breakdown on the story: Image
1/ The Evergrande Group is a Fortune 500 real-estate developer with headquarters in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

It was founded by Hui Ka Yan in 1996 in Guangzhou.

It's a big business: as recently as 2020, it had sales of >$100 billion and adjusted core profits of ~$5 billion.
2/ At its core, it's a homebuilder business.

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But it has pushed the boundaries, making investments in EVs, an internet and media production company, a theme park, a soccer club, and a mineral water company. Image
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18 Sep
Lifelong learning is the way.

But if it doesn’t stick, all of that learning can go to waste.

Here's a tactical framework for improving your retention:
Growth is fundamentally driven by the long-term accumulation and compounding of usable knowledge.

We accumulate and compound this knowledge through consumption and retention.

Consumption is the inputs—what comes in.

Retention is what remains after any leakage.
Consumption is easy—if you read the right books and articles, listen to the right podcasts, and follow the right accounts, you're well-positioned.

Retention is harder—most people have no idea how to mitigate leakage.

This thread shares my framework for improving retention:
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16 Sep
Every Friday, I send out a short newsletter with 5 pieces of content to help you learn something new.

One Quote
One Tweet
One Article
One Podcast
One Bonus

The best part? It’s 100% free.

Join 32,500+ others and sign up below!👇
Ok, it’s 33,000+ now…

🤯🤯🤯
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15 Sep
Guerrilla marketing is fascinating.

THREAD: 10 genius guerrilla marketing campaigns (to spark your marketing creativity):
The Blair Witch Project

Prior to its release, the movie's creators released credible-looking "missing" posters to stoke intrigue around the legend.

The Blair Witch Project had a total budget of less than $500,000 and ended up with almost $250 million in box office revenues.
The IHOP Rebrand

The famous pancake chain released a series of videos indicating they were changing their name to IHOB (International House of Burgers).

The ploy worked.

It drove millions of social media impressions and they sold 4x as many burgers in the weeks that followed.
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