Use Flashcards Only for the Hardest 20% of Material

Most people create flashcards for everything they read, then spend hours reviewing things they already know. That's not studying — that's busywork disguised as diligence. The real value of flashcards is drilling the material that genuinely trips you up — the exceptions, the confusing pairs, the facts that refuse to stick.

Identify the 20% of material you consistently forget or confuse, and build your deck around that. Easy material doesn't need a flashcard — it needs one more read at most. Your study time is limited, so spend it where the friction actually is.