Doing more questions feels measurable, which makes it easy to confuse activity with progress. Fifty nearly identical questions can produce less learning than ten carefully chosen ones.
Productive practice has friction
A useful question makes you retrieve a method, decide whether it applies and carry it through accurately. If every question arrives under a heading that names the method, an important part of exam performance has been removed.
Topic practice is valuable while learning. Mixed practice becomes essential once the basic method is available.
Feedback needs a second attempt
Reading a solution can create a strong feeling of understanding. The real test is whether you can close it and reproduce the reasoning.
After a mistake:
- Identify the first incorrect or uncertain step.
- Review only enough explanation to repair it.
- Restart the question without copying.
- Return to a related question later in the week.
The second attempt is where feedback becomes learning.
Count outcomes instead
Rather than recording only questions completed, notice:
- methods retrieved without prompting;
- mistakes corrected independently;
- weak topics revisited;
- mixed sets completed accurately;
- explanations you could give to someone else.
Question count can support these outcomes, but it is not a substitute for them.