Knowing how to use it will help you gain 100x more from your digital reading.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use it:

1/ Sign up for a free trial of Readwise Reader via readwise.io

2/ Install the Readwise Highlighter Extension (Chrome or Firefox)

3/ Open a website with the text you want to consume

4/ Highlight text on the web

While browsing online, if any idea I find interesting, I right-click on the text and choose Readwise Highlighter.

Readwise will prompt me to either take a note or tag this highlight.

Let's choose to take a note.

5/ Write the flashcard

In the note box, I type in *.qa*

This is called inline tagging (don't forget the DOT)

Then I press ⏎ and start typing my prompt in a new line.

The prompt should follow a 3-part format:

• Unambiguous cue

• The new knowledge

• The missing knowledge

Here, the concept of SKEUMORPHISM serves as both a cue and a new concept for me.

Next, I press ⏎ (return) to start typing the answer in a new line.

Pro tip: The answer should be unambiguous and based on the original text.

As I review this prompt later, I realize that it could be written better by improving:

• The cue: What does SKEUMORPHISM mean as a design method?

• OR the cue & the new knowledge: SKEUMORPHISM is a design method applied by technology companies like Apple. What is it about?

6/ Review

Readwise resurfaces your flashcards based on your feedback.

The general rule is the better you recall, the less you see a card.

You might only have to spend a total of 5-7 minutes to review a well-written card in your whole lifetime.

Min effort, max outcome.

If you enjoyed this and you're into writing as a means to design, build, and grow:

1. Follow me @tien_neurocog for threads like this 2x per week.

2. Retweet the first tweet to share this thread with your followers.