As I move up the levels, I find my review times slowly getting messier. I have no problem checking WK many times a day (on the contrary…), but ever since seeing @jprspereira’s Ultimate Guide post I wondered if I should sacrifice a bit of my mental health in order to tighten up my WK schedule, or if letting it happen naturally is okay.
I just feel like overcommiting might take the fun out of it. What do you guys usually do?
The schedule you can keep very much depends on your lifestyle. I work from home most of the time and can hit my reviews as they come up; however, since I bill by the hour I know exactly what they cost. If I’m with a client or friends then reviews can wait but I try and clear them as quickly as possible.
See @elynchbell. You have 1 to 2 years here. How important is it to you to do it in 1 year vs 2? Especially since this is ONLY kanji, and reading, writing, listening, speaking still needs to be learned?
For me, I take 45 minutes to an hour every morning. I take another chunk of time around lunch, and another chunk in the afternoon after my boss goes home (stealing WaniKani on the work clock!).
I don’t do reviews in the evening. That’s “me” time.
All of this leads to 9-11 days per level. And I’m OK with that. It was faster until about level 24, but then I lost a day or so.
Just schedule your real life. Find the chinks. Minimum twice a day. 3 is great, 4 is optimum. But it has to be every. Single. Day. For Over a year. So for me? 3. Four is too many.
Your mileage may vary?
No, you shouldn’t. Your mental health comes before finishing WK a month or 2 before you otherwise would; it’s not worth it.
What do you mean by tighting up your WK schedule? If you mean following the Apprentice intervals by doing those reviews the moment they’re available, I agree. This level of organization doesn’t add extra work and it only improves your accuracy in the short and long-term (which makes WK feel healthier for you).
If it means speeding up and leveling up in less days… well, you can just try 1 level and see how you feel. Tbh, at level 4 I think it’s a bit early to actually know the actual intensity of WK, since you only have items from 4 levels to review (and not from 10, 20, 30, 40…). So for that, I’d go with @konekush’s suggestion: reaching lvl 60 3 months earlier or 3 months later means nothing, since language learning/usage extends for years if not decades. The important is that you stick with learning the language, and for that you need to have fun 
I did mean the first thing! Leveling up isn’t a priority, but sometimes I worry that taking things too easy (that is, not doing Apprentice intervals soon as they come) might end up being harmful to my learning.
The extra work means doing the lessons at set times and then being available for reviews at set times; if the usual set times are impossible at a certain day, I have to readjust my schedule accordingly. Sometimes this seems a bit over-.
I’ve gone back and forth with different things. I do feel like getting the first review on time (4 hours or whatever it is) makes a difference. I’ve been trying to be more cognizant of that when I take on new material.
I’d say that if you’re doing reviews every day, Apprentice 3 up shouldn’t be a concern to you schedule-wise. It won’t make a difference doing Apprentice 3 reviews (u waited 23h) 6h later. For Apprentice 1 and 2, it might.
One thing to take into consideration is that you don’t need to change overnight. Try doing it during the weekends (assuming you’re more free during those times). Once you get that and if you feel comfortable, you can then slowly start adding this habit throughout the week.
One thing is that doing WK every day is already a habit. You’re doomed to build up habits with WK, whether if you do reviews in the public transport, in bed after waking up, during lunch, etc. Those are habits. Everyone has their own. So I’d suggest going for the gradual change and to identify those habits you have so you can adapt WK to it.
Another thing that’s important to add is that not following the schedule every day is okay. Imagine you’re only able to do it during the weekend without feeling stressed out. That’s still 2 days per week that you’re doing better. That still counts
Adapt WK to your daily routine, not the other way around.
The thing here is that the intervals are intentionally the length they are because the WK team thinks doing your reviews at these intervals will help you learn more effectively. If you do your first review 8 hours after your lessons instead of 4 hours after, your retention is going to suffer.
If you know in advance that your day will be busy and you won’t be able to hit intervals, you can just skip lessons that day and pick back up the next day. Like everyone else has said it’s about enjoying the process and learning, not leveling up as quickly as possible. Marathon not a sprint and all of that
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