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Against the advice of every morning-maxxer, I opened my phone first thing when I woke up this morning. I checked my email (bad), scrolled through the news (bad), checked my bank accounts (pretty bad), and then opened Blank Slate for a one-minute session (good). Then I got up and made coffee (very good).
Like most people, I have to know a lot of information to do my job. I need to know how our products work, what my colleagues are working on right now, what our company policies are, how to interpret Gen Z slang (yes, we have content for that), and the list goes on. My Blank Slate app has hundreds of essential pieces of information in it. I couldn’t possibly review each one every day, which is why I rely on Blank Slate to prioritize for me.
I never thought I’d still need flashcards at the age of 35. When I was in high school, I thought flashcards served one purpose: passing an exam. But I realized when I got my first job, the exam never ends.
Across countless fields — healthcare, education, defense, transportation, finance, etc. — staying proficient means remembering thousands of technical details, decision rules, procedures, and regulations. The challenge isn’t learning all of that knowledge once, it’s keeping it so you can use it.
That’s where flashcards come in. The research on the topic is clear: whether you’re taking high school biology, flying an airplane, or you’re a VP of Finance, the best way to strengthen memories is to practice recalling them [1]. Though it’s a bit old school, flashcard-style question and answer sessions remain an excellent way to do this.
And your stack of note cards and a two-hour block of time was a great approach when you were in school. But as a time-stretched professional with probably 50 times more information to memorize as you had to back then, note cards probably aren’t a feasible solution anymore.
Blank Slate eliminates the need to choose between doing what’s best for your memory and doing what’s best for your busy schedule. Instead of having you revisit all of your content on a fixed schedule, it surfaces a small, personalized set of questions each session. A minute of review each day becomes enough to keep a vast body of knowledge active, whether that’s 200 items or 2,000.
Here’s what this looks like for a few professionals who rely on Blank Slate for knowledge maintenance.
A Fighter Pilot
One Air Force fighter pilot maintains a Blank Slate knowledge base of 1,150 questions covering aircraft systems, emergency procedures, tactics, regulations, and more.
Instead of blocking off hours of study time, he spends about 4 minutes each session on whichever 15 questions he’s least likely to recall under pressure.
He’s on his 109th session, has strengthened 1,059 items, and his recall accuracy has gone up 35% — from 69% to 93%.
A Security Guard
One security guard who uses Blank Slate is responsible for 156 regulations spanning security screening, customer interactions, incident response and reporting, and more.
She spends under a minute per session refreshing both new and older protocols.
Over 1,800 sessions in, she mastered all 156 items a long time ago, and maintains 97% knowledge accuracy.
An Air Force Paramedic
One Air Force paramedic uses Blank Slate to master 312 questions covering pharmacology, anatomy and physiology, and combat medicine.
He spends about 3 minutes per session working through them.
After 47 sessions, 266 of those items are strongly reinforced, and his accuracy has gone up 73% — from 44% to 76%. Research with Air Force paramedics has shown this kind of use helps them administer care during combat scenarios.
Flashcards for life
The biggest misconception about flashcards is that they’re just for students.
The people with the most demanding jobs don’t stop needing knowledge after training is over. In many cases, they accumulate more information every year. Without a system for continuously strengthening knowledge, forgetting becomes inevitable.
Blank Slate’s unique AI platform transforms endless stacks of notecards into 60-second knowledge maintenance sessions designed for busy professionals. Flashcards may be forever, but they don’t have to take forever.
References:
- Donoghue, G. M., & Hattie, J. A. C. (2021). A meta-analysis of ten learning techniques. Frontiers in Education, 6, Article 581216. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.581216
Amy Smith, PhD | Chief Scientific Officer, Blank Slate Technologies
