For sentence construction you need to jump on to Lang-8. I believe Koichi has you do this somewhere around where you currently are. It’s incredibly beneficial.

As for words, you need to come up with your own mnemonics for them. Check out this page:
http://www.academictips.org/memory/index.html

Also if the word is a noun, adjective, or verb it really helps to find a picture of it and start associating that word with that exact picture. Pictures create much stronger links than concepts do. The more dramatic the picture the better.

If your Anki is going out of control you need to either limit the number of new cards added each day, or stop adding new stuff for awhile all together. If you need to keep up a streak with studying the TextFugu text, allow yourself to count rereading portions, don’t force yourself to continue to new sections if you aren’t ready for them. That’s one of the major benefits of self study, you aren’t forced to go at someone else’s pace.

As a last bit of advice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxGRhd_iWuE

Wasif Asif wrote:

You ever experience getting burned out Aikibujin when learning Japanese?

That would be an understatement. ^_^

I’ve been learning on and off for ten years now. Even after starting TextFugu I only got to Season 4, then I had nearly a year of not studying (I moved and went back to uni) before I began again from the start).

And I procrastinate like no one’s business.

So I’m talking my study a little easier, slowing the pace, but just making sure I stick with it.

So if Anki builds up too much, I don’t add anything until it comes under control again. If I get sick of studying something, I choose something different, or take a break. I’m just making sure that I’m always studying something and I don’t let myself stop again. And if I find that I have stopped without realizing it, I immediately get back in to something right away.

Just gotta keep on going, and stop saying it’s been too long since I last studied so I’ll wait for a “better time” to do it when I can really focus. As I think is quoted in TextFugu, the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now. ^_^