Flashbulb guide

How far before a final should I start studying with spaced repetition, and how many cards a day?

Start two to three weeks before the exam, and finish learning new cards two days before it. Divide your cards by the days you have: 300 cards over 14 days is about 25 new cards a day. Expect roughly 10–20 minutes a day, rising as reviews pile up, then falling in the last two days.

Last checked November 3, 2026 by Lyravant.

Why spacing beats cramming

Each time you recall a fact just before you'd forget it, you'll remember it longer the next time. Spaced repetition schedulers use that: a card you know waits longer before it comes back; a card you miss comes back sooner. Cramming the night before works for the morning after, then fades fast.

A worked example

Rule of thumb used below: in the first two weeks each new card comes back about three more times, and one card takes about 9 seconds. So a new card costs about 36 seconds in total.

New cards finish two days before the exam; those last two days are reviews only. That's how Flashbulb paces a course: add "Bio final, Dec 12" to the course and its page counts down the days, shows tonight's minutes and orders the plan weakest topic first.

Practical tips

• Make the cards early, even if you study them later. Making them is half the work.
• Answer before you flip. Saying the answer, or typing it, is what makes recall stick.
• Be honest with "Again". A missed card coming back sooner is the system working.
• Several exams? Give each deck its date; the planner shares out the new cards.
• The night before: a short cram round is fine, but sleep matters more than another hour.

Questions

More guides