If you’ve successfully cleared a backlog, please post your story here.
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Do you mean finishing learning everything that HH has for curriculum (to date) or just having an insane queue of reviews and then finally finishing it?
When you miss a few days (or months) and have a massive review backlog and can’t remember anything and everyone hates you
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I guess I don’t have the worst story. I’ve never reached 600 in my queue before. But a couple months ago I was at 550, and actually a couple days ago I was also at 570 ish? The thought of having leftovers for the next few days is not appealing! So, I just knocked it out in batches throughout the day. I’d do at least 75 at a time, but some rounds I’d do 200 at a time.
Other thoughts
Personally, I think I just haven’t found the best keyboard for myself. My personal computer, the keys are slightly too far apart. My work computer (maybe not so) ironically has the best keyboard so far. I have an extension keyboard, which is all cutesy, but the keys are slightly too close together lol. Anyways, this just adds to my frustration. Luckily, I just do my reviews when I’m alone so no one can see how insane I get 
, ESPECIALLY when it comes to having 300+ reviews.
What’s crazy is that it doesn’t feel like it’s taking that long, but once you factor in having to redo mistakes, I typically see having 100 reviews as taking about 20 minutes or so? On a day-to-day basis, I have about 150-250 reviews so I’m kind of used to it.
Posted in my study log a while back but had a backlog >1000 that I cleared in two big sessions. Honestly just gotta decide you want to do it and just do it.
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Basically I got to the end of HSK6 in December and took a short break - which turned into a long break. I simply haven’t been able to get back into the habit, especially with over 3500 reviews due. I’ve been pretty good this month at just doing 15 minutes a day, which is pathetic, but it’s a much longer 15 minutes when you can’t remember anything. I’m getting through less than 30 reviews a day this way, and it’s absolute torture. I’m wondering if I should just brute force it, like you suggested, but, ugh…
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Yup… I know what you mean. Just gotta saddle up and gett’er done!
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According to ChatGPT:
Option 1: Brute Force in Batches (Dangerous, but Fast)
This means committing several hours over a few days to just reviews. It’s tempting, and some do it successfully. But:
- Pros: Quick reset; psychological relief.
- Cons: Fatigue, poor retention, high re-learn rate.
This works best if your memory of the material is still fairly fresh. Otherwise, it’s a churn-and-forget cycle.
Option 2: Daily Caps + “Gradual Catch-Up”
This is the most recommended approach by long-time SRS users on forums like Reddit and language-learning blogs:
- Step 1: Set a reasonable daily review cap (e.g., 100-150 reviews).
- Step 2: Suspend new cards entirely.
- Step 3: Tackle 10–20 “extra” cards beyond your daily due (bonus backlog reduction).
- Step 4: Use “bury leeches” or “mark as relearn” if you’re repeatedly failing a card.
- Step 5: Celebrate small wins (100 cards = ~3% of the way there!).
This spreads the pain over weeks and re-solidifies long-term retention.
Option 3: Reset with a Clean Slate
If your memory is fuzzy and the backlog is full of half-forgotten cards, consider:
- Relearning only the most important cards (e.g., HSK lists, common characters).
- Deleting or suspending older cards en masse, and only re-adding as needed.
- Some SRS tools have a “retire old cards” or “delete cards unseen in X days” feature.
| Daily Reviews | Cards Actually “Cleared”/Day | Days to Clear 3,500 |
|---|---|---|
| 50 | ~25 | 140 days |
| 100 | ~50 | 70 days |
| 150 | ~75 | 47 days |
| 200 | ~100 | 35 days |
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As someone that has worked down ~1.5kish reviews several times, what works for me is to set minigoals. e.g. If it’s currently at 1,200, then chopping it up by 50 or a hundred. Having a goal of getting “sub one thousand” is a powerful motivator.
Additionally, I make sure to go through the Recent Mistakes extra study after every 50ish. I think it can be especially brutal when you’re confronted with an endless stream of all of the things you’ve forgotten. In comparison, revisiting the Recent Mistakes, you can get a “groove” feeling (as after, all, you just did them, and you can confirm whether it stuck within the last hour) and it conveys to you that this isn’t all for naught, but instead contributing toward your memory.
EDIT: For those unaware, within the Review Summary there’s a link to a “scoped” extra study session of the mistakes you made only in that review session. It’s a button under “SRS Demotions” 
this is what I mean by “go through the recent mistakes”
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