Hi! I'm Al Khan.
Helping serious learners build their dream careers while having loads of fun studying :)
“My Anki Reviews Take Forever” - what's actually wrong
Hello Reader, Someone messaged me yesterday. Something along these lines: “Al, I did everything you said. I understood the material BEFORE making Anki cards. But now I have SO many cards it takes hours to review them daily. What am I doing wrong?” I get this message a lot. And normally, what most people do - especially if you’re reading solutions on Reddit - is tell you to fix your settings. “Here’s the optimal interval modifiers for XYZ subtopic and concept!” “Set your ease factor to exactly...
why I changed careers 4 times before 30yo (and what actually worked)
Hello Reader, Al here. Next week is my birthday, so for that totally unrelated reason, before I send out the usual "study efficiently" schtick, I decided to let out something different. ;) I've been wanting to write about career change a couple of times now, but never had the courage to do so — I don't even know why. So here it is...hopefully this helps at least 1 person. Maybe that's you, maybe not. But maybe this could spark your thinking in one way or another. I feel like it's too valuable...
learning how to learn is (still) the ultimate meta skill
Hello Reader, It looks like the AI hype train is slowly dying...and it's great to hear for us lifelong learners. (Btw: I have something for you in the P.S. section) Over the past year, you’ve most likely noticed the crazy hype around AI. People are freaking out left and right:“If AI’s going to do everything, why did I spend years studying? What’s the point of learning anything new?” Totally fair question. I even thought about this myself — "What the heck am I teaching learning for if AI is...
How to create great Anki flashcards (free mini course)
Hello Reader, A few years back, I actually created a free mini-course, Card Craft. Of course, not everyone was able to receive it, especially the newer ones. So I'd love to share that with you today. If you're struggling with mountains of flashcards that you keep on forgetting, the flashcard quality is usually the root cause... They were highly forgettable in the first place. It's time to solve that: [CC] Preface to How to Make Memorable Flashcards - A Free Series [CC] Making your own...
how I'd study 100+ pages of COVID-19 recommendations
Hello Reader, Al Khan here, for another "insider" info. (lol) So one student in Ready to Pass that I'm personally working with needs to study hundreds of pages per SUBtopic for her exam. No wonder — it's for her specialty boards. (Internal Medicine) And looking at her exam coverage, there's just so much material, and I mean THOUSANDS of pages to study that you won't even know if you'd be able to handle it. The tendency is to try to remember every detail that you see, fact-by-fact. DON'T....
What if your exams felt...easy?
Hello Reader, “Congratulations, you passed!” The first time I saw those words next to my name, I wasn’t surprised. I know that sounds arrogant. But I need you to understand something: I walked out of that licensure board examinations room KNOWING I’d passed. While others were in the hallway crying, calling it unfair, didn’t know what happened and was “nothing like preboards” - as they were planning their retake strategy… I went to eat good food. I was already thinking about what came next....
your Study System Bible ebook - part 1 of 3
Hello Reader, It's a great day today. New curtains installed in my bedroom. I've also been writing The Study System Bible ebook the entire day drinking coffee in the morning and afternoon. (which felt great!) I actually thought I wouldn't be able to publish anything since it's been a while since I wrote something this long. But now it's here. Today, I'm officially launching our community's free ebook, The Study System Bible. First off, there are a lot of reasons I created this ebook and sent...
how obsessing over learning changed my life
Hello Reader, It’s Al, writing from beside my favorite window, lol. Since pivoting from pure e-commerce to building UnStudy, I’ve had enough quiet time to reflect. And—no sugar-coating—the last two years were not all unicorns and butterflies. Actually is it okay if I share a story real quick? (Uhm, thanks…I guess? haha) If you’ve followed me for a while, you know how it happened: 2 years ago I was clinically diagnosed with anxiety and depression. It was literally negative thought spirals...
rebooting LeanAnki...(and one BIG news)
Hello Reader, It’s been a while! Wait… don’t tell me you don’t remember me? (Ha! Fair. I’m Al Khan — here’s my about page if you need a refresher.) A lot has happened since we last talked: Big shifts. Tiny wins. And a LOT of failures too. (which really toughened us up) But today actually...I want to share one of the most exciting updates yet. Actually let me go on a quick tangent first... (lol) I credit everything I’m about to share with you to the mental models I’ve been talking about for...
Skill #2 - How to create a massive digital brain by linking your notes
Hello Reader, In the last email, I shared with you how to take notes that don’t die as they land on paper. Today is next level. We’re going to use those notes inside bigger notes. They’re called “Structure Notes”. I do apologize in advance, but there’s no greater analogy I could think about for this aside from Loki’s “bringing together the timelines” scene: (Yeah, Loki now god of freaking note taking) So the workflow now looks like this: Learn from sources (mentors/books/etc.) Process into...
Helping serious learners build their dream careers while having loads of fun studying :)