I don’t have a really strict routine but I do about 70% of my lessons in the morning and the rest in the evening so I hit the first review about an hour before bed. I don’t do vocab lessons if already have over 260-270 reviews the next day. I always do radicals as soon as I unlock them along with kanji, but I don’t do more than 15 kanji at once.
The rule I adhere to most strictly is to never have any pending lessons when I level up. This ensures that I don’t neglect the vocab.
I’m at 0/0 all the time and the elusive 6 day, 20 hour level up still eludes me…
The right time to start reading is today 
I moved fairly quickly to doing a max of 25 lessons per day. I use the filter script (which allows you to select the number of radical, kanji, and vocab lessons to do in a given session) to: prioritize radicals to immediately, space out kanji over the first half of the level, and do some vocab every day as available. Using this approach (and correct timing of radical and last-batch-of-kanji reviews), I have reached a pattern of consistent 7-day levels where I always have at least one point each level where my lesson stack is empty. (So my speed isn’t suffering and I’m not leaving any vocab behind.)
I use this approach not because I worry about trying to learn too many lessons at once, but because it creates a pattern of reviews over time that’s much more even. My reviews per day still fluctuate, but not wildly (unlike if I were doing huge lesson stacks, which come back in huge review waves).
I do reviews until I get my apprentice items under 120.
Then do lessons until it’s at or over 120.
I don’t pay attention to how long it takes me to get from one level to the next.
Sometimes I don’t get my apprentice under 120 for quite a while.
Sometimes I end up adding 20 more items to my lessons.
I target 20 lessons per day (but sometimes have done up to 30) during the mid-level stretch. Using the filter script, I do 5 kanji and 15 vocab (if available).
On the first day of a new level I do all radicals regardless of how many, then 5 kanji / 15 vocab each day after. I’ll do my lessons between 9 and 10 AM so my first review is after lunch, right around 1 or 2 PM. Then the evening will be my second review, around 9 or 10 PM. So I do 3 review sessions a day usually
This is just the pace I like; prioritizing vocab over kanji has helped me see how a given kanji is used sooner, so I tend to retain it better. And I don’t feel like I’m taking forever with my 10-14 day levels, but others might find that either too fast or too slow. Lots of varying preferences when it comes to learning 
I personally keep my apprentice count around 100, 125-130 tops. Like others I try to do all the radical lessons as soon as they are available. That means no other lessons for that day. Then I start 5-10 kanji lessons the next day. Then vocab lessons whenever there are no new kanji lessons.
What I have found out is that vocab is, at least in my own experience, getting a bit easier than when I was starting out. Attribute this to better learning methods, familiarity with WK, or if it really is easier as you go along, I have no proof of. However, this is the reason why I will have more vocab lessons on some days and less on others. To each their own but I find that some vocab are just plain easier to get than others. So if I have a particularly easy stretch of vocab, I just add more vocab lessons for that day. I mostly do increments of 5 so I will have days of 10, some even 20 but if I get tough ones (different than main reading, rendakus, mnemonic not sticking) then I only do 5 for the day.
I do not really care about my leveling up speed and hence do not follow the do everything at once approach. I find that by keeping things around the 100 apprentice level, I have enough reviews and lessons to keep me busy but not too much that I do not have time for Genki and BunPro.
I hope you find your balance soon! Before I found the “100 apprentice count” suggestion, my reviews fluctuated mightily and caused a lot of frustration. Once I settled on a routine, things allowed me to plan the day and this helped me immensely. I hope whatever you decide to do will work for you.
All the best!
if i was jobless, i’d be at 0/0 all the time. i believe the brain can handle it, what’s in the way is real life. work, chores, all the things that eat my time.
so i’m adapted to my energy level after work/commute, and currently that means 3-4 weeks per level.
How did it ‘fail’? I just started japanese lessons at the local community center too
Thank you!! I use bunpro and genki as well
i kept rushing so i could not remember anything beyond level 10 or more. bummer.
I love this thread ! There is a lot of inspiration to take here
My routine is very similar to some of you: lessons in the morning, then first review around lunch time and second review in the evening. I started implementing this in January, and I feel Wanikani is much more manageable (no need to check if I have reviews or not all day long, I know when the reviews are coming).
However, I have been neglecting my vocabulary lessons a bit too much 
I think it is because I am focusing too much on kanjis, and when I level up, I do only radical and kanjis lessons first.
I want to go through all of my lessons (170ish haha) before starting lessons from the next level
My routine is a bit unorganized, but I’m sure that will change as the levels increase in workload.
I’ll usually try a few reviews in the mornings, but only if there is a manageable number like 10, otherwise my guru items would probably be at risk because I am not a morning person lol. I get all my reviews done at lunch, and try to at least half my lessons. Near dinner time I’ll finish off any reviews left for the day, as well as lessons. I’ll usually get to 0/0, but I don’t mind falling asleep with a couple of unfinished lessons.
This usually keeps me below 20/50 at any given moment, and I think my review record is ~110. Once things get up to around 80 I’ll just jump in and get them down before my next longer review session begins.
As for leveling up, I just keep the same sort of schedule, but I usually zoom through those radicals and slow down again once kanji come around.
I do every last bit of my learning on the Tsurukame mobile app, and I was wondering, what platforms do you all use? What do you think the benefits and drawbacks are to keeping only computers or phones in your learning routine?
I always clear all my pending reviews before adding new lessons. Painful experience with other systems has taught me that letting myself be overwhelmed by reviews is the path to failure.
For the same reason, I’m pretty slow about adding new lessons, waiting until the “next day” reviews are reasonable. (Usually less than 50, always less than 100.)
I made my WK schedule thanks to This Guide
I’m lucky enough to have enough time in the day to do my lessons at 7am, do my first reviews at 11am to 12am and do my evening reviews around 8pm. I find it quite efficient for me, even if I’d like to find the “perfect” schedule for me, I’m still practicing.
As for the lessons, after a level up, I do the radicals as soon as possible (a.k.a the next lesson session, be it the next day or not). the next lesson session, I do 10 to 15 kanjis, then I continue like this until there’s no kanji left in lessons, then I do vocab.
I’m kinda aware that it’s not the most efficient lesson method, I’m trying things out to level up faster, while staying consistent.
I just do everything once it unlocks and if i forget something the SRS does it’s thing. I was trying to do everything and remember everything before moving up a level but since doing it this level i find that i can absorb everything better. Could just be me though. I’m also only level 4 about to go to 5 though so i don’t know if it will change later.
My apprentice items are around 100-150 at all times, which is the absolute maximum i can handle. Just a few leeches more and my head explodes 
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I level up every 8 days, doing all lessons at once and reviewing everything (usually ~200 items) in the evening right before bed. Exceptions are when important radicals or kanji do come up, then i´d do these right away (re-order).
This is a very consuming schedule and i wouldn´t recommend it to most, but it has worked for me for the past 5 months or so. I´m planning to drastically slow down, though, once i reach level 30 or something in order to focus on other things and empty my apprentice folder.
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