I’m a college student (with a busy schedule 
) who has a really bad time trying to remind himself of doing his daily reviews. I had taken a really long WaniKani break for exams and I forgot about WaniKani and doing my reviews until recently.
Thanks in advance. Hopefully this thread helps someone else too!
When do I do my reviews? First thing in the morning, last thing before bed. Otherwise when I feel like it. I have a Chromebook dedicated to learning Japanese (Bunpro and WK are the first two tabs, all other tabs are Japense-related) and I put it on top of my laptop before going to sleep in order to remind myself to do my reviews before I do anything else in the morning. When I’m too busy to dedicate time to Japanese I still show up every day and do at least one review - sometimes that becomes more than one, but if not then that’s okay. When I have mountains of reviews to catch up on I buy chocolate and reward myself one piece for every 20 reviews I do:)
Same reason I don’t forget to breathe, I just don’t. I just do them. Make routines and you will just not forget about them.
I just do them every single day after dinner, even when I don’t feel like it. If you’re busy you can just do them for less time, there’s no way you can’t spare 10-20 minutes. Don’t take breaks, even on your birthday.
The moment I opened my PC, WaniKani would be the first tab I have open. If it’s always open on your PC, it kind of serves as a reminder.
But I spent my whole day at home, back when I was in college, I took online classes, so I can at least recommend to make a habit to do a set amount of reviews before you do something. If you want to play a game, do 10 reviews first. Something like that, wherever applicable, try and fit it in.
And of course every night before I sleep, I get the number to 0. I used to have around like 200+ at night, but just put on some music and pushed myself through. You’ll have a lot less though if you’re not going that fast.
Out of sight, out of mind.
I would recommend setting your wallpaper on chrome to your WaniKani homepage so you can just keep it in mind. Hobbies are built out of consistency, so just keep doing it daily around the same time if you can, and the more you focus on it and enjoy it… the faster you’ll build the habit of just doing it.
I used WaniKani to procrastinate my actual work.
Reviews I’ve been doing so long I don’t forget (and I’m OK with the very occasional “oops, forgot yesterday, today’s workload is 2x” day). For other habits which I have less ingrained, I have a paper calendar on the fridge and I mark the days with letters when I do things (currently E for exercise, V for taking a vitamin pill, X for having got up and had breakfast without looking at a screen). I drink a lot of coffee with milk so I always see this a lot during the day. If I’m making a todo list for the day then I put this kind of daily task on it too, it means I have some easy things to cross off.
I have a small widget that shows how many lessons and reviews I have currently. It doesn’t let me off the hook.
Where are the gaps in your routine? Waiting for the bus/subway? Gaps between classes? Meals? Exploit those. Five minutes may not be enough to clear your whole review pile, but you can chip away at it five or ten items at a time.
I like the honest reply, I do the same.
I get the reminder on the app, but if I am in front of the computer I will rather do it there. I also complete them on the bus and anywhere I need to wait.
When I wake up I get coffee and the first thing I do is WK. Then I check the schedule for the upcoming reviews and do them as soon as they’re available, mostly with the Flaming durtles app.
It has become such a habit of doing it this way that it will be weird when this is over one day.
My strategy is simply to remove the question. The reviews are not up for negotiation. I never close the tab and check it occasionally to make sure there are no reviews (if there are, I do them).
Siri reminds me, should I ever forget my reviews. Even though I never actually turned Siri on.
Mostly just a habit - once you get into the rhythm of it, it becomes part of your daily routine. For me, I make sure that I do at least 90 Reviews and 15 Lessons a day, minimum. - I could do more, but I’ve found this moderate approach works really well for me, and I’m in no rush to speedrun WaniKani. (Started in mid 2021. I’ll be done this year.)
As impressive as it is to finish your initial Kanji journey with a fast time, I firmly believe you should also enjoy the tempo and go with the flow that suits you as a person.
Experiment around, and see what works for you!
Best of luck with your Kanji progression.
I know its one of the things I have to do no matter what. Like wiping my butt after I poop. If I don’t do it, it is just gonna mean greater irritation and discomfort in the future. Yes it takes time, but it is important!
I’m paying good money to use this shit so that’s my motivation. I usually do 2 review sessions - one early morning and one at night. When I level up though I’ll do three so I can hit the first interval on the new batch of words quick
On my iphone, I use the Tsurukame app. It’s great. It helps me do reviews (and even lessons) when I’m out and about (on the train, waiting for the train, standing on the train when there isn’t a seat, sitting down doing not much else). Had an android app prior to that. I don’t like app notifications pinging, but the Tsurukame app icon has a number visible on the icon if there are reviews available, which I appreciate.
On my computer, I try to do WK Reviews around 9 or 10 am in the morning and also sometimes in the afternoon or evening if I have time to use my computer.
I only do Lessons if my Review queue is at zero items (for the hour) and typically prefer to do them either around 10 am, 3 pm, or 7pm (at the latest, but I occasionally do lessons at 10 pm
or so before getting ready for bed).
Push notification on my phone.