I'm 39 and will be starting medical school this fall. Being so out of studying for many of years I'm a bit apprehensive in getting back into the flow. I'm trying to research new studying methodologies, and Ali has been inspirational to a oldie like me!
Ali is the only RUclipsr with studying tips that actually work. I mean, they are golden! I'm tired of seeing students make videos about how to take fancy notes, they are time consuming and aren't helpful at all.
I'll tell u a little secret. The people who take those notes are hard working. Here's why. They either are like focused by nature, but for us ADHD people making a routine will help alot. I started by giving myself 5 hours and 1 hr pomodoro sessions to literally study inconsiderate of productivity. Once I made it a routine, I realized that I wanted to learn more about something I dont understand in that time period instead of getting up and grabbing an ice cream or something. And that's where they come from. All the detailed notes. It seems impossible but they have been perfecting it and becoming efficient at it their entire life. So dont get discouraged find patterns, make habits, and eventually you too will get there. Because I will tell u, that amount of note taking and revision is the only way to pass medschool. No other memorization metbhods work.
gaurav shinde there’s nothing wrong with taking efficient notes! I do that. what i’m talking about is videos that focus more on aesthetic rather than efficiency. these are a waste of time!
@@spiritrenewed3019 In undergrad courses, especially Medicine (things like OSCEs), past papers really aren't applicable. But past papers would work great up to and including A-levels.
I've been waiting for this ever since I heard you mention it in an older video! I'm definitely going to be implementing this in second year of med school, thanks for sharing the technique with us Ali 🙂
You make studying look so cool. And thank you for emphasising on active recall in more efficient way. You’ve no idea how much it has helped me through my studies.
This method managed to get me all grade 9s (new grade system) for GCSEs and I only discovered it like a months/2 months b4 my exams. I've already begun doing it for A levels and honestly you've totally changed my perspective on learning. I honestly am so interested in the science of learning now and I find myself sharing what I learn with others where I always reference you. Hope you realise how helpful you've been to everyone. Keep it up man 👊👍
Damn I need to do this. I was using Anki for like two months, so I'll probably switch to this. In what scenarios are flashcards better and how did you revise for English lit and Lang with this method
Keplar I got a 9 in eng lit and Lang from just past papers I didn’t even read the books all I did was do a past paper mark it and understand where I’m going wrong
guys, i swear by this method. i used this in order to study for my biology tests and my chemistry finals. i used to be those types of people who would "almost pass" for biology, and i would normally fail for chemistry. after trying this method, i would end up getting over 65% in my biology tests (keep note that only around 35% students pass biology in my grade) as for my chemistry finals, only 5 people passed chemistry, and i was lucky enough to be one of them. earlier on, i had only 38% for my mid-terms, and i ended the finals with a 57%. it may not be much, but progress is still progress :) what i love most about this method is that i do not have to keep reopening my book and memorizing everything again and again, since every important question is already jotted down in my google sheets. anyways, 10/10 recommend this method, it works !!
@@rosilove28 hi !! i'm so sorry for the late reply but i used ali's timetable to study at the time, since it was the finals :) just to note, my school always has tests, so i can't not study, so i feel like my school's schedule helped me implement spaced repetition because of the amount of tests we do. but for usual, i'd automatically press on a topic when i felt like studying that particular topic, or id press on the topic where i felt like i needed to work on :) i don't really restrict myself on doing a specific topic, just going w the flow typa thing
I’m a 2nd year med student and I just learned we’ll be having comprehensive exams on all 1st and 2nd year subjects by the end of the school year before entering year 3. This is such an awesome (and free!) alternative to Quizlet! I’ve always thought that flashcards are the way to go for making test questions in bulk. Thank you for this! More power from the PH 🇵🇭
Believe it or not, I’ve learned about active recall and spaced repetition because I binge watch your videos nowadays. I’ve started using Notion for creating questions for myself. Now, I am watching this because I am starting to consider google sheets for my reviewer in my upcoming exam. This is definitely better than my previous study method which is highlighting so much 😂 I think I am becoming a better student because of you, Ali.
Hey. I just got into law school and I'll be using active recall and spaced repetition for studying. Can explain me how did you start like how you use it to learn new content?
@@Sam.21.904 hello. Well, I am studying in the medical field but, I think what I did may work for you too :)) Basically, what I did was kinda similar to Ali’s. I have my book in front of me, and I as I read along, I type questions for the things I needed to remember straight into notion. I specifically use the toggle option for it now. Ever since I’ve been doing that, I’ve realized that I somehow was able to retain info just by that method alone, but it will be stored in your long term if you used the spaced repetition :)
@@camille7965 ahh thank you so much camille. I'll surely try this method and then use spaced repetition. I'll try this for one month or two and will let you know the progress. Thanks a ton :)
@@friendchasecar511 hey. I totally forgot about this hahaha. But jokes aside, i started using notion and the toggle feature. What happened was it kinda became a headache for me to write all the content and go through toggle. Plus i didn't even use anki, as creating flashcards was another tedious task. What i did was stopped using notion completely. Instead, i use REMNOTE. It's a game changer. You can make notes and create flashcards at the same time. Saves a tone of time. I would suggest you to do the same. If any questions, shoot!
Ali. I just discovered your vids like 3 days ago! I'm in my 3rd year in medical school and I've been doing passive reading all my life. It's a daily struggle that's why I'm so grateful for your vids. Super thanks!
I’ve been doing this Google sheets method since the past three weeks, I have my finals in a week. I’ll let you know how it goes after I’m done with my exams.🙌🏻 Thank you for structured study techniques you share!💙
This question is crucial and I think you should make a video on it. Q , How did you run businesses and still got good grades in Med school at the same time? How did you manage your time and energy?
yes, please make this video. I'm currently in med school and have recently launched my own online store (even with some employees), it's doing unexpectedly well made 30k profit in its first month, launched it in the holidays. Now that's school is starting, I still find quite hard to manage my time, my grades are quite average not the best I want to be. How did you maintain really high grades in med school while doing business?
Yess Ali! I just started using Google Sheets (on your recommendation) to do SR for my A-Levels and I’m already seeing a massive difference in retention. So happy you decided to make a dedicated video to it, keep it up!
THIS IS GENIUS. I'm studying for the MCAT right now, and I use google sheets, but I used to just cover the answer part up with my hand. Not the brightest idea after seeing this video.
This episode actually solved my confusion with flash card apps which are sometimes too random to be systematically reviewed. Thanks Ali, YOU ARE LEGEND!
I use google sheets too! :) I'm trying to figure out how to use conditional formatting to hide the answers though! And i still end up downloading the file as .csv to upload to Anki :) i'm making a video on this for sure! Love learning from your approach!
Bro you have no idea how crucial this video was for me. I read the make it stick book and bought into the active recall method but having so many flash cards was a huge annoyance. Thanks again!
Hi Ali! Thanks for all of your videos. I did my international GCSEs last year and with active recall as my secret weapon got a 97% average and three top in NZ subject awards. I'm sure I'll be using your videos as help and advice for the rest of high school and hopefully also during medical school. All the best.
Northeastern Student! I love this!! I can't believe I never thought of this before. It reminds me of ANKI which is what I tried to use but didn't like.
Hey, cheers! Great video. I also find active recall is the best way to learn a material. Recently, I started making powerpoints. I put the question on the title and the answer will have animation "appear" which appear when I press enter. The advantage of PowerPoint is that we can add pictures and appear after you press enter and have attempted the recall.
This method gave me an A+ in Algebra, the following semester I didn't follow this method for PreCalc and got a C. I will be going back to this method for all my courses.
In 1921, Ludwig WIttgenstein published the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and took the world by storm with the metaphysical and phenomenological analysis therein. Later, a post-humous manuscript was released that rejected much of his initial writings, but nevertheless took the world by storm once more! Ali, you are the VVIttgenstein of flashcards. We follow your brilliance.
Your revision techniques are the most useful ones I've ever come across and I'm not even exaggerating. This and all the other related videos are really helpful, thanks a lot!!
This is exactly what I need to go back to school. I am from the States and Shit student. I never knew how to study and maximize my time. Now I have a really. Good idea. I finished you Skill share class. It is great.
your Google sheets method has been a life savior for me, seriously it works, it's easier, faster and more productive! a mistake that I used to do is writing everything, so my take away from this video is to just put the question and explain it in my head when it's about concepts or long explanation, or just put key points/words.. anyway, the video is amazing and motivating as always, looking forward for more .
Ali you are my saviour!!! I have to take the ONCE and some other exams and I was freaking out so I started using active recall and so far it's working great!
Hi Ali this is Subhajit from India. I’m a junior resident at Medical College, Kolkata. I just felt I needed to say this. Your videos and tips made me more productive and knowledgeable about my own studies. It really helped me grasp and recall some difficult concepts and semantics during my final year too. Thank you so much for these tips and nudges.
Thank you! This is exactly the method I needed during my final year of vet school. I thought I was the only one who dreaded making and going through Anki. You’re a lifesaver! 🙏👍🏻😊
Honestly Ali you are changing my life. I have never actually understood how to study until I learned from your videos. I cannot thank you enough and I wish you the utmost success.
You have the best study content on the internet. Wish I knew this when I was doing my biomedical science degree. But this technique works for learning information for my career so very happy I came across your videos 👌Thanks Ali
For people who think that making these questions is time consuming I got a very clever solution , basically copy the whole lecture than past it in chat gpt , you have to ask it to make questions based on the text you provided , then ask it again for the answers , after that you have to go ro google sheet and install the chat gpt extension , after that ask it to paste all the questions on collum A and the answers on B , and yeah that's it , it took me less than 10 minutes to create 40+ questions , you have to give it a try
That's too helpful dude ,brilliant !! But may i ask you somthing , how is that to install the chat extension on googlesheets? It would be nice , hope you the best ❤
This is pretty awesome. You might be able to improve this with another column where, for instance, you grade how well you think you know the answer on a 5 point scale. Then, you'd be able to set a filter to only show stuff you've graded 1-3, or use conditional formatting to color the cells based on how well you graded yourself. You could also make graphs to get more insight into how well you understand certain topics, which may help you prioritize where you have to put in some more study time. One thing that I like you mention, that sometimes I tend to forget, is that it's a means to an end, and that you should look at what works best for you based on personal preference and the task at hand. Something programmers often say is that "if all you know is a hammer, everything you see starts to look like a nail".
So thankful for making this illustrative video on spread sheets. Your content is to the point and really helpful. I’m a medical student as well and I do find the advantage of active recall. All thanks to you!! Much love
Loved it... That's a practical one to do active Recall... I was motivated by you to make Flashcards earlier but soon realized that it was not my cup of tea... & now this method of Google Sheets is easy to prepare and Recall... Thanks Alot... Love your Videos... You are One of my Favourite RUclipsrs...
Hi Ali, Thank you so much for making this video. I have been using this method to prepare myself for a qualifying exam of high voltage facility management which I am taking this coming Autumn. Though I am not worried about calculation problems, I was feeling insecure about memorising all the laws and ordinances. I didn't want to cram in at the last minute and get away with, because if you cannot pull the information out of your brain when needed in actual practice, there would be no use being qualified. I AM SO GLAD I found your channel which led me watch this video! (I've just done with my study session for today and AM I feeling confident in what I am doing so I thought I would come back to this video and thank you ;)) Making questions myself and typing out answers are time consuming but it is totally worth the effort. Again, thank you so very much! Cheers from Japan🇯🇵
you should use conditional formatting so that you just have to type 1, 2, 3 to turn the boxes green yellow red. itll save you time and maybe you can even turn the question and answer into a light grey font!
hey man, I used to feel completely exhausted while studying, Untill I watched your videos and found out I was doing studying all wrong all these years. I was marking all the things I already knew, and ignoring the others bunch I didn't knew thinking they ain't important and understanding way less, Thus finding boredom and extreme difficulty. It was all reading and completing a chapter quicker to me, Never working on actually what I don't already know, As you said, real learning happens when you see something new. This is where I started to read first, ask myself questions over a topic, see what I already know, take a mcq test over the topic, and then re read the topic marking what I don't know, not giving away all my secrets now xD. You literally changed my life, I scored a full 50/50 in my bio lol, in such a tough topic. I found that I'm having to place way less effort into studying now cuz now I'm actually enjoying it, instead of just trying to complete it. Science is one amazing field I must say, wish if I found "how to study" earlier lol. You changed everything, TY !
I literally spend all my day doing this because you've recommend it in an older video Hope it works, I'm trying to get into a medical college in Brazil, where I live, and we have to do this HUGE text on the end of the year to pass I am already using some of your tips Thank you! And sorry for my bad English, it isn't my mother language
Amazing! I do exactly the same thing for my math studies. What I added though is the date of the last repetition, the importance, the amount of right answers and the reliability of my answer, to be able to sample well and concentrate on the most important ones on this day. My sheet also tells me when to repeat stuff based on the amount of right answers, so after the 1st time a 0 day wait period, then a 1 day wait, 2 ,4 ,6 days and so on.
my maths teacher was talking to us at the start of this year about active recall and so i started doing this just in a word document because i was only concerned about doing spaced repetition by date, but it seems really helpful to do it by overarching subject/topic too! thanks for making this video
why didn't i think of using this technique when i was doing my undergrad?!! uugghh i couldn't have gotten better grades with this technique. Definitely going to use this technique for my MBA.
I’m so fortunate to have come across your videos on active recall & spaced repetition before my As level commence. I have been binge watching your videos for a couple of days now & will surely use these methods to prepare for my Alevels. Super thankful for your tips! ☺️
I have a suggestion on how to potentially improve your system. I suggest adding a 'last review date' in column A where you activity write the date of when you last reviewed the question. My rational for this is to essentially make it easy to know when you've last focused on that particular question and, by extension, the corresponding topic.
I've started using sheets to study spanish vocab. This is the opposite, I think, to what you said about keeping your subjects seperated, because the nature of a conversation, at least not a meaningful one, is that your not going to spend large amounts of time talking about the same thing. So I like google sheets because I can randomize the rows easily. Also, I have a column this the subject in it, so if I want to, I can filter the rows to only show the cards in that subject, but I can just as easily remove the filter and study them all together. I also have a column where I write how hard it was for me to recall the word, 1 through 5, and then I can filter that column too or put them in assending order or something. I use numbers instead of colors because I'm blind. I came up with this idea myself while talking with another person, and came here to see if anyone else was doing it to see if they liked it or if it just got annoying. Thanks for this video, your explanations are clear and you are excellent at using examples. Thanks again.
I've just completed semester 1 of my medicinal chemistry degree and realised that the few topics I had make content summaries for (a structured bulleted list of things covered in that lecture/session) were revised so effectively.I realised that a lot of time was wasted on trying to categorise things in my notes/lecture slides/textbooks. This method will definitely help to impose structure on the topic and group all relevant things together, and the question format makes revision a lot more directional in the sense that a specific thing is being asked (unlike content summaries) that you must find the answer to. Thanks for the tips!
I have been using this and it's great but now I've now colour coded my questions which is so much better thanks Ali. One tip I'd share is using command + \ which is a handy keyboard shortcut to remove formatting on the question to make the answer cell black and command + z to go hide it again - saves extra effort using the trackpad or mouse :)
You could get it to give you random questions. a separate column with a number in it might make the colours easily (conditional formatting and scores 1,2,3.
Column A: question Column B: the answer (white letters ) Differentiate colors (column A) at different memory levels, or you can hide rows if you know the answer
Ali this is genius. Will certainly do my best to apply it during my third year of medicine. I am starting this Feb. 11 I find that this makes me less anxious about having to do a lot of flashcards.
Thanks for the video. I have two reasons for sticking with flashcards: (1) Even though I might remember something very well now, I might forget it in the long run. If I would color code it, I would probably just skip over it after a period of time. (2) I am putting images in my flashcards, which is not suitable for a spreadsheet.
The problem I found with the Gsheet method IS the lack of commitment, with Anki I'm "forced" to review all my cards, I can't skip a card, I have to review it in order to access to the others. The Gsheet method ask me discipline I don't have, sometimes in front of a question I'm like "nah I don't feel like doing this one, lets gently skip it" and woosh you skip it unnoticedly, and there isn't anki to harass you with this card you're having so much trouble getting in... I like the structure of Anki, and the feeling that it schedules the revisions for me ^^
Would be interesting if it is possible to transfer a gsheet into flashcards. Edit: Ok, a quick google search later I found lots of easy ways to convert a gsheet or similar file into quizlet flashcards. Hope this solves your problem. :)
I don't know if it's just me but if you even have the motivation to get up and study, it seem surprising that you're too lazy to review some information. And there are a lot of information that you already know, i think sometimes you would wanna skip a card instead so.
Nice method. I would add that you can set some condition formatting for cells. For example if you end cell with "/1", "/2" , "/3" or any other characters you want, it could automatically set up background color for this cell. I use it for my google sheets planning, if I write a dot on the end of the cell its background color changes so I know it's marked as done.
I've been using a method like this except on OneNote for a few years now and i was so supprised that no one was talking about even though it works so well.
This is probably better than the average Quizlet set, but Anki can be more effective than a sheet. I get your idea but Anki/Quizlet offers image occlusion, cloze deletions, enumerated lists, spaced repetition algorithms, etc. It also seems like there are settings to fix your issues with Anki. For example, you say anki gives you cards randomly and you understandably don't like that - however, one can always custom study with tags, keywords, sort by date created, or make more specific decks. Everyone has their own methods and this probably works great, I just think Anki still comes out ahead. And thanks for your videos I've benefited a lot from them.
Dan Bergholz 100% agree, I use anki for everything but have them categorised , when I'm reviewing I do them all at once but when I need to revise something specific for a test etc I'll custom study the category needed. I find it much handier than google sheets
I agree, I think he misses out the concept of the tagging system and deck separation. Also having addons which can automate some of the stuff for you for a specific solution to a problem
Omg, yes, yes, yes, I just realized why Anki never used to work for me. Around what you said at minute 5, about med study being better without random questions but in order. I study Japanese but I could never remember vocabulary from flashcards. It's because I didn't learn them in context. While reading I always got much more into my head. Rather than just having one boring example sentence with them, completely without any reference to similar things, I need context. And this is perfect to build maps of vocabulary in context.
🎬 Check out my FREE 36-video online class on how to study for exams - skl.sh/2UOx68x
YOU ARE A SAVIOR FOR THE LOT OF US 💖💖✨😭
Ali Abdaal Hi I noticed you said you know how to code. How would you set up google sheets to help out with learning to code ( Java for example )
I'm 39 and will be starting medical school this fall. Being so out of studying for many of years I'm a bit apprehensive in getting back into the flow. I'm trying to research new studying methodologies, and Ali has been inspirational to a oldie like me!
Ali the dram of every mom can you do a featuring whit ruclips.net/channel/UC0QHWhjbe5fGJEPz3sVb6nw both you guys are the dream of every mom
Ali is the only RUclipsr with studying tips that actually work. I mean, they are golden! I'm tired of seeing students make videos about how to take fancy notes, they are time consuming and aren't helpful at all.
True Story🍺
yep. I make scruffy notes because I find notes as a waste of time and then i make flashcards from those notes and thats what I use primarily.
Well put.
I'll tell u a little secret. The people who take those notes are hard working. Here's why. They either are like focused by nature, but for us ADHD people making a routine will help alot. I started by giving myself 5 hours and 1 hr pomodoro sessions to literally study inconsiderate of productivity. Once I made it a routine, I realized that I wanted to learn more about something I dont understand in that time period instead of getting up and grabbing an ice cream or something. And that's where they come from. All the detailed notes. It seems impossible but they have been perfecting it and becoming efficient at it their entire life. So dont get discouraged find patterns, make habits, and eventually you too will get there. Because I will tell u, that amount of note taking and revision is the only way to pass medschool. No other memorization metbhods work.
gaurav shinde there’s nothing wrong with taking efficient notes! I do that. what i’m talking about is videos that focus more on aesthetic rather than efficiency. these are a waste of time!
Ali - the ambassador for Active recall. xD
Active-recall Learning Instructor (a-l-i)
Lol
He is the ambassador for every thing
Am I the only one who feels so motivated to study after watching his videos?!
same
And feels demotivated a little later🙃🙃
I concur but can't you use past papers for questions instead
@@spiritrenewed3019 In undergrad courses, especially Medicine (things like OSCEs), past papers really aren't applicable. But past papers would work great up to and including A-levels.
Thuraiya AlRawahi sameee
I've been waiting for this ever since I heard you mention it in an older video! I'm definitely going to be implementing this in second year of med school, thanks for sharing the technique with us Ali 🙂
Waiting for his video to doing a video with him-goals!
What a gem I've found here
Aha...my study buddy😁😁
You make studying look so cool. And thank you for emphasising on active recall in more efficient way. You’ve no idea how much it has helped me through my studies.
This method managed to get me all grade 9s (new grade system) for GCSEs and I only discovered it like a months/2 months b4 my exams. I've already begun doing it for A levels and honestly you've totally changed my perspective on learning. I honestly am so interested in the science of learning now and I find myself sharing what I learn with others where I always reference you. Hope you realise how helpful you've been to everyone. Keep it up man 👊👍
Damn I need to do this. I was using Anki for like two months, so I'll probably switch to this. In what scenarios are flashcards better and how did you revise for English lit and Lang with this method
Keplar I got a 9 in eng lit and Lang from just past papers I didn’t even read the books all I did was do a past paper mark it and understand where I’m going wrong
Keplar and then if u want to spend extra tike make a google sheet or quizlet or Anki for quotes related to themes/characters
@@aroobmanzoor9255 okay thanks
Aroob Manzoor how did u revise physics from this ?
guys, i swear by this method. i used this in order to study for my biology tests and my chemistry finals. i used to be those types of people who would "almost pass" for biology, and i would normally fail for chemistry.
after trying this method, i would end up getting over 65% in my biology tests (keep note that only around 35% students pass biology in my grade)
as for my chemistry finals, only 5 people passed chemistry, and i was lucky enough to be one of them. earlier on, i had only 38% for my mid-terms, and i ended the finals with a 57%. it may not be much, but progress is still progress :)
what i love most about this method is that i do not have to keep reopening my book and memorizing everything again and again, since every important question is already jotted down in my google sheets.
anyways, 10/10 recommend this method, it works !!
hi, how did you use spaced repetition for this method? (if you did)
@@rosilove28 hi !! i'm so sorry for the late reply but i used ali's timetable to study at the time, since it was the finals :)
just to note, my school always has tests, so i can't not study, so i feel like my school's schedule helped me implement spaced repetition because of the amount of tests we do. but for usual, i'd automatically press on a topic when i felt like studying that particular topic, or id press on the topic where i felt like i needed to work on :) i don't really restrict myself on doing a specific topic, just going w the flow typa thing
YAY GREAT JOB!!!! :D ✨✨✨
in your heart didn’t you use Ali’s retrospective revision timetable
I used to love flashcards but it took all my energy in making it rather than in studying. I'll definitely start using this method now and give it a go
How did it go?
How did it gooo
How did it go?
Go it did how?
Goo goo goo
I wish I had friends like you. People who are your friends are super lucky.
I’m a 2nd year med student and I just learned we’ll be having comprehensive exams on all 1st and 2nd year subjects by the end of the school year before entering year 3. This is such an awesome (and free!) alternative to Quizlet! I’ve always thought that flashcards are the way to go for making test questions in bulk. Thank you for this! More power from the PH 🇵🇭
It’s the simple things like white font that make all the difference in a tool being so useful!
Believe it or not, I’ve learned about active recall and spaced repetition because I binge watch your videos nowadays. I’ve started using Notion for creating questions for myself. Now, I am watching this because I am starting to consider google sheets for my reviewer in my upcoming exam. This is definitely better than my previous study method which is highlighting so much 😂 I think I am becoming a better student because of you, Ali.
Hey. I just got into law school and I'll be using active recall and spaced repetition for studying. Can explain me how did you start like how you use it to learn new content?
@@Sam.21.904 hello. Well, I am studying in the medical field but, I think what I did may work for you too :)) Basically, what I did was kinda similar to Ali’s. I have my book in front of me, and I as I read along, I type questions for the things I needed to remember straight into notion. I specifically use the toggle option for it now. Ever since I’ve been doing that, I’ve realized that I somehow was able to retain info just by that method alone, but it will be stored in your long term if you used the spaced repetition :)
@@camille7965 ahh thank you so much camille. I'll surely try this method and then use spaced repetition. I'll try this for one month or two and will let you know the progress. Thanks a ton :)
@@Sam.21.904 how was it?
@@friendchasecar511 hey. I totally forgot about this hahaha. But jokes aside, i started using notion and the toggle feature. What happened was it kinda became a headache for me to write all the content and go through toggle. Plus i didn't even use anki, as creating flashcards was another tedious task. What i did was stopped using notion completely. Instead, i use REMNOTE. It's a game changer. You can make notes and create flashcards at the same time. Saves a tone of time. I would suggest you to do the same. If any questions, shoot!
One thing I love the color part and using randomize range. When you feel like you are remembering the order, you can just mix them all up
Used this + Anki flashcards for my Classics A-Level, nailed it with an A*. Totally recommended!
I was searching for this comment..
Ali. I just discovered your vids like 3 days ago! I'm in my 3rd year in medical school and I've been doing passive reading all my life. It's a daily struggle that's why I'm so grateful for your vids. Super thanks!
I’ve been doing this Google sheets method since the past three weeks, I have my finals in a week. I’ll let you know how it goes after I’m done with my exams.🙌🏻
Thank you for structured study techniques you share!💙
what do you think is netter google sheets or flashcards?
So glad this was recommended to me. I use to read all my notes passively and did a few example question to test my knowledge. This is much better!
This question is crucial and I think you should make a video on it.
Q , How did you run businesses and still got good grades in Med school at the same time? How did you manage your time and energy?
Animepro100 too clever ??
Yes Ali plz make a video on that :)
Good point. Please Ali bro make a video on this . Will be helpful for all. Thanks!
Please make this happen.
yes, please make this video. I'm currently in med school and have recently launched my own online store (even with some employees), it's doing unexpectedly well made 30k profit in its first month, launched it in the holidays. Now that's school is starting, I still find quite hard to manage my time, my grades are quite average not the best I want to be. How did you maintain really high grades in med school while doing business?
Yess Ali! I just started using Google Sheets (on your recommendation) to do SR for my A-Levels and I’m already seeing a massive difference in retention. So happy you decided to make a dedicated video to it, keep it up!
THIS IS GENIUS. I'm studying for the MCAT right now, and I use google sheets, but I used to just cover the answer part up with my hand. Not the brightest idea after seeing this video.
This episode actually solved my confusion with flash card apps which are sometimes too random to be systematically reviewed. Thanks Ali, YOU ARE LEGEND!
7:20 "Google sheet just makes it a super low commitment thing to sit down and study" This is the gist I was looking for....
I use google sheets too! :) I'm trying to figure out how to use conditional formatting to hide the answers though! And i still end up downloading the file as .csv to upload to Anki :) i'm making a video on this for sure! Love learning from your approach!
Please make a video on this. Thanks
Two of my fave doctors 😍
Thank you for this, I did not know that you could do this.!!!!
hide the answers by making the font white?
Bro you have no idea how crucial this video was for me. I read the make it stick book and bought into the active recall method but having so many flash cards was a huge annoyance. Thanks again!
Man, this RUclips channel is underrated af. This guy is so impressive!
Hi Ali!
Thanks for all of your videos. I did my international GCSEs last year and with active recall as my secret weapon got a 97% average and three top in NZ subject awards. I'm sure I'll be using your videos as help and advice for the rest of high school and hopefully also during medical school.
All the best.
Northeastern Student! I love this!! I can't believe I never thought of this before. It reminds me of ANKI which is what I tried to use but didn't like.
i would say that flashcards are for specific vocabulary terms and definitions, and then google sheets for questions, as you said in the video.
Hey, cheers! Great video. I also find active recall is the best way to learn a material. Recently, I started making powerpoints. I put the question on the title and the answer will have animation "appear" which appear when I press enter.
The advantage of PowerPoint is that we can add pictures and appear after you press enter and have attempted the recall.
Great idea!!!
This method gave me an A+ in Algebra, the following semester I didn't follow this method for PreCalc and got a C. I will be going back to this method for all my courses.
love this method but i needed this like 6 years ago when i was in college now i am just watching :D
Hi Ali I started doing this I went from an C to an A in all my exams! thanks man
In 1921, Ludwig WIttgenstein published the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and took the world by storm with the metaphysical and phenomenological analysis therein. Later, a post-humous manuscript was released that rejected much of his initial writings, but nevertheless took the world by storm once more! Ali, you are the VVIttgenstein of flashcards. We follow your brilliance.
Your revision techniques are the most useful ones I've ever come across and I'm not even exaggerating. This and all the other related videos are really helpful, thanks a lot!!
This is exactly what I need to go back to school. I am from the States and Shit student. I never knew how to study and maximize my time. Now I have a really. Good idea. I finished you Skill share class. It is great.
Ali - I used this method and it efficiently got me very high scores on my biology exams. Thanks
your Google sheets method has been a life savior for me, seriously it works, it's easier, faster and more productive! a mistake that I used to do is writing everything, so my take away from this video is to just put the question and explain it in my head when it's about concepts or long explanation, or just put key points/words.. anyway, the video is amazing and motivating as always, looking forward for more .
I love how you make your videos so organized.
Ali you are my saviour!!! I have to take the ONCE and some other exams and I was freaking out so I started using active recall and so far it's working great!
Hi Ali this is Subhajit from India. I’m a junior resident at Medical College, Kolkata. I just felt I needed to say this. Your videos and tips made me more productive and knowledgeable about my own studies. It really helped me grasp and recall some difficult concepts and semantics during my final year too. Thank you so much for these tips and nudges.
Thank you! This is exactly the method I needed during my final year of vet school. I thought I was the only one who dreaded making and going through Anki. You’re a lifesaver! 🙏👍🏻😊
This literally made me memorize 30,000 GRE vocabs! Thank you so much :)
I’m a Law student and I think you just gave THE idea to study the articles from the different codes. Love your channel! 🙌🏼
Honestly Ali you are changing my life. I have never actually understood how to study until I learned from your videos. I cannot thank you enough and I wish you the utmost success.
You have the best study content on the internet. Wish I knew this when I was doing my biomedical science degree. But this technique works for learning information for my career so very happy I came across your videos 👌Thanks Ali
For people who think that making these questions is time consuming I got a very clever solution , basically copy the whole lecture than past it in chat gpt , you have to ask it to make questions based on the text you provided , then ask it again for the answers , after that you have to go ro google sheet and install the chat gpt extension , after that ask it to paste all the questions on collum A and the answers on B , and yeah that's it , it took me less than 10 minutes to create 40+ questions , you have to give it a try
That's too helpful dude ,brilliant !!
But may i ask you somthing , how is that to install the chat extension on googlesheets?
It would be nice , hope you the best ❤
YASS ALI GCSE's IN 3 MONTHS, I NEEDED THIS
THANK YOU!!!
This is pretty awesome. You might be able to improve this with another column where, for instance, you grade how well you think you know the answer on a 5 point scale. Then, you'd be able to set a filter to only show stuff you've graded 1-3, or use conditional formatting to color the cells based on how well you graded yourself. You could also make graphs to get more insight into how well you understand certain topics, which may help you prioritize where you have to put in some more study time.
One thing that I like you mention, that sometimes I tend to forget, is that it's a means to an end, and that you should look at what works best for you based on personal preference and the task at hand. Something programmers often say is that "if all you know is a hammer, everything you see starts to look like a nail".
So thankful for making this illustrative video on spread sheets. Your content is to the point and really helpful. I’m a medical student as well and I do find the advantage of active recall. All thanks to you!! Much love
Loved it...
That's a practical one to do active Recall... I was motivated by you to make Flashcards earlier but soon realized that it was not my cup of tea... & now this method of Google Sheets is easy to prepare and Recall... Thanks Alot... Love your Videos... You are One of my Favourite RUclipsrs...
Hi Ali,
Thank you so much for making this video. I have been using this method to prepare myself for a qualifying exam of high voltage facility management which I am taking this coming Autumn. Though I am not worried about calculation problems, I was feeling insecure about memorising all the laws and ordinances. I didn't want to cram in at the last minute and get away with, because if you cannot pull the information out of your brain when needed in actual practice, there would be no use being qualified. I AM SO GLAD I found your channel which led me watch this video! (I've just done with my study session for today and AM I feeling confident in what I am doing so I thought I would come back to this video and thank you ;))
Making questions myself and typing out answers are time consuming but it is totally worth the effort. Again, thank you so very much!
Cheers from Japan🇯🇵
you should use conditional formatting so that you just have to type 1, 2, 3 to turn the boxes green yellow red. itll save you time and maybe you can even turn the question and answer into a light grey font!
Thanks for this, Ali! A big help to everyone who’s trying to do better in school. ♥️
ive recently become obsessed with google sheets. Needed this. Thanks
hey man, I used to feel completely exhausted while studying, Untill I watched your videos and found out I was doing studying all wrong all these years. I was marking all the things I already knew, and ignoring the others bunch I didn't knew thinking they ain't important and understanding way less, Thus finding boredom and extreme difficulty. It was all reading and completing a chapter quicker to me, Never working on actually what I don't already know, As you said, real learning happens when you see something new. This is where I started to read first, ask myself questions over a topic, see what I already know, take a mcq test over the topic, and then re read the topic marking what I don't know, not giving away all my secrets now xD. You literally changed my life, I scored a full 50/50 in my bio lol, in such a tough topic. I found that I'm having to place way less effort into studying now cuz now I'm actually enjoying it, instead of just trying to complete it. Science is one amazing field I must say, wish if I found "how to study" earlier lol. You changed everything, TY !
I literally spend all my day doing this because you've recommend it in an older video
Hope it works, I'm trying to get into a medical college in Brazil, where I live, and we have to do this HUGE text on the end of the year to pass
I am already using some of your tips
Thank you!
And sorry for my bad English, it isn't my mother language
Good luck! U will make it
@@elainesladen5260 thank you ♥️
Me too, is it working?
How did this work for you? Were you successful?
I've just been using this for a couple of days and it's worked wonders. Thanks!
Amazing! I do exactly the same thing for my math studies. What I added though is the date of the last repetition, the importance, the amount of right answers and the reliability of my answer, to be able to sample well and concentrate on the most important ones on this day. My sheet also tells me when to repeat stuff based on the amount of right answers, so after the 1st time a 0 day wait period, then a 1 day wait, 2 ,4 ,6 days and so on.
That's very clever of you! @Kodiak Bear
my maths teacher was talking to us at the start of this year about active recall and so i started doing this just in a word document because i was only concerned about doing spaced repetition by date, but it seems really helpful to do it by overarching subject/topic too! thanks for making this video
why didn't i think of using this technique when i was doing my undergrad?!! uugghh i couldn't have gotten better grades with this technique. Definitely going to use this technique for my MBA.
Finally found a squarespace link for you Ali! turns out searching in Google for Ali Abdaal squarespace worked. Finally starting my own website!
I’m so fortunate to have come across your videos on active recall & spaced repetition before my As level commence. I have been binge watching your videos for a couple of days now & will surely use these methods to prepare for my Alevels.
Super thankful for your tips! ☺️
Ali I love you, you're literally going to save my degree
SO simple, yet seems very effective. Will give this a try!
You almost make me want to have an exam to study for. Almost.
So weird.I was just searching a day ago on how to make revision questions on Google docs.This video was a God sent.Thanks man
I have a suggestion on how to potentially improve your system.
I suggest adding a 'last review date' in column A where you activity write the date of when you last reviewed the question.
My rational for this is to essentially make it easy to know when you've last focused on that particular question and, by extension, the corresponding topic.
Thank you for this vid. I had heard that some authors use sheets to plan their novels and thought of using sheets for study guides. Good stuff.
bro I googled ali abdaal and the first suggested search was "ali abdaal death" shit scared me for a sec. May u live a long life lol.
I've started using sheets to study spanish vocab. This is the opposite, I think, to what you said about keeping your subjects seperated, because the nature of a conversation, at least not a meaningful one, is that your not going to spend large amounts of time talking about the same thing. So I like google sheets because I can randomize the rows easily. Also, I have a column this the subject in it, so if I want to, I can filter the rows to only show the cards in that subject, but I can just as easily remove the filter and study them all together. I also have a column where I write how hard it was for me to recall the word, 1 through 5, and then I can filter that column too or put them in assending order or something. I use numbers instead of colors because I'm blind. I came up with this idea myself while talking with another person, and came here to see if anyone else was doing it to see if they liked it or if it just got annoying. Thanks for this video, your explanations are clear and you are excellent at using examples. Thanks again.
I've just completed semester 1 of my medicinal chemistry degree and realised that the few topics I had make content summaries for (a structured bulleted list of things covered in that lecture/session) were revised so effectively.I realised that a lot of time was wasted on trying to categorise things in my notes/lecture slides/textbooks. This method will definitely help to impose structure on the topic and group all relevant things together, and the question format makes revision a lot more directional in the sense that a specific thing is being asked (unlike content summaries) that you must find the answer to. Thanks for the tips!
Google should sponsor this guy he's advertising them like crazy
I have been using this and it's great but now I've now colour coded my questions which is so much better thanks Ali.
One tip I'd share is using command + \ which is a handy keyboard shortcut to remove formatting on the question to make the answer cell black and command + z to go hide it again - saves extra effort using the trackpad or mouse :)
You could get it to give you random questions. a separate column with a number in it might make the colours easily (conditional formatting and scores 1,2,3.
Column A: question
Column B: the answer (white letters
)
Differentiate colors (column A) at different memory levels, or you can hide rows if you know the answer
Great Video Ali. I use "Group" feature to group questions chapter wise. Helps to keep the sheet concise and limits scrolling.
Thank you for always making videos like this... God bless you!
Ali this is genius. Will certainly do my best to apply it during my third year of medicine. I am starting this Feb. 11
I find that this makes me less anxious about having to do a lot of flashcards.
Thanks for the video. I have two reasons for sticking with flashcards: (1) Even though I might remember something very well now, I might forget it in the long run. If I would color code it, I would probably just skip over it after a period of time. (2) I am putting images in my flashcards, which is not suitable for a spreadsheet.
Couldn’t help but notice the apartment decor 11/10
I am a hardcore flashcard enthisiast but you actually convinced me to try this method :D . Great video!
Was really looking forward for this comparison!!
woouh ..... 👌The best and simplest space repetition method ever.
You’ve inspired me to use this technique, loving it so far, thanks.
True, I just note condensed it so when it came to describing a theory for example it just involved a few words.
i think this video has just saved my a levels oh my god i use google docs and sheets literally every day how did i not think of this
The problem I found with the Gsheet method IS the lack of commitment, with Anki I'm "forced" to review all my cards, I can't skip a card, I have to review it in order to access to the others. The Gsheet method ask me discipline I don't have, sometimes in front of a question I'm like "nah I don't feel like doing this one, lets gently skip it" and woosh you skip it unnoticedly, and there isn't anki to harass you with this card you're having so much trouble getting in... I like the structure of Anki, and the feeling that it schedules the revisions for me ^^
Would be interesting if it is possible to transfer a gsheet into flashcards.
Edit: Ok, a quick google search later I found lots of easy ways to convert a gsheet or similar file into quizlet flashcards. Hope this solves your problem. :)
I don't know if it's just me but if you even have the motivation to get up and study, it seem surprising that you're too lazy to review some information. And there are a lot of information that you already know, i think sometimes you would wanna skip a card instead so.
You can use conditional formatiing
Thank you!
This was the thing I immediately got in my mind.....
Even the images as well
Been trying to learn this study method. Its amazing!
Nice method. I would add that you can set some condition formatting for cells. For example if you end cell with "/1", "/2" , "/3" or any other characters you want, it could automatically set up background color for this cell. I use it for my google sheets planning, if I write a dot on the end of the cell its background color changes so I know it's marked as done.
I've been using a method like this except on OneNote for a few years now and i was so supprised that no one was talking about even though it works so well.
This is probably better than the average Quizlet set, but Anki can be more effective than a sheet. I get your idea but Anki/Quizlet offers image occlusion, cloze deletions, enumerated lists, spaced repetition algorithms, etc. It also seems like there are settings to fix your issues with Anki. For example, you say anki gives you cards randomly and you understandably don't like that - however, one can always custom study with tags, keywords, sort by date created, or make more specific decks. Everyone has their own methods and this probably works great, I just think Anki still comes out ahead. And thanks for your videos I've benefited a lot from them.
Dan Bergholz 100% agree, I use anki for everything but have them categorised , when I'm reviewing I do them all at once but when I need to revise something specific for a test etc I'll custom study the category needed. I find it much handier than google sheets
Pretty much all I could think during this video!
I agree, I think he misses out the concept of the tagging system and deck separation. Also having addons which can automate some of the stuff for you for a specific solution to a problem
anki has addons?
Agree ! There are so much setting on.anki
Omg, yes, yes, yes, I just realized why Anki never used to work for me. Around what you said at minute 5, about med study being better without random questions but in order. I study Japanese but I could never remember vocabulary from flashcards. It's because I didn't learn them in context. While reading I always got much more into my head. Rather than just having one boring example sentence with them, completely without any reference to similar things, I need context. And this is perfect to build maps of vocabulary in context.
I have been using google sheets from a long time I got the idea from your early videos helped a lot but it’s very case specific
i love how you structure your video
That’s a clever idea- I’m going to try it out, thanks!
Just recently used this because of you. ITS GREAT!!!!
This is wonderfully minimalistic and neat!
How do you know what I need in my life?
Nice to see another video of you Ali!... Thanks for your tips and tricks on studying and productivity!