When I first learned about spaced repetition I thought that I was going to become some kind of superperson. Unfortunately that didn't happen, and I don't currently have a spaced repetition routine. I believe that one of the reasons for my initial failure is that not all kinds of knowledge is suited for rote learning techniques like spaced repetition.
The following is a list of subjects that I think are well suited for rote learning techniques such as spaced repetition.
- Vocabulary
- Shortcut keys and commands for software you use often (OS, browser, spaced repetition software, etc.)
- People (specifically their birthdays, names/faces, interests, etc.)
- Useful constants and conversions between units and time zones
- Personal useful stuff
- Health info (blood type)
- Credit card info
- Passport number and expiration date
- License plates
- Essential phone numbers
- The ordering of letters in the alphabet if you never bothered to learn it before (like me)
- Punctuation: Period and comma
- The mnemonic major system
- Quotes or short sentences that you would like to have available as cached thoughts
- CTAPs and implementation intentions1
- Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
- Musical notation
- Myers-Briggs types
Many of the items on the list above are inspired by suggestions from the sources below. They provide a bunch of additional ideas for things to learn there that I decided not to include in my own list either because I don't think they are suitable for rote learning or generally useful to remember.
- The section about what to add on the excellent spaced repetition page by Gwern.
- LessWrong post: Knowledge ready for Ankification
- Slides from Nick Winter's slides for a Quantified self talk. (Specifically slides 7 and 8)
- LessWrong post: Memory, Spaced Repetition and Life has some good points about what is and isn't worth learning. Mentions NVC as a good example.
See also my collection of bookmarks about spaced repetition.
If you know of more repositories with ideas for things to learn with spaced repetition I would like to know about them.
1 SquirrelInHell has also shared the contents of a system for CTAPs here. It is a good example of how to formulate CTAPs/implementation intentions as questions (triggers) and answers (actions), and it may serve as inspiration for building a similar system. I am sure that I saw a comment somwhere by SquirrelInHell with more details about the system, but I can't find it now.