Rapid increase in ELO

Hello, 

Since picking chess back up in February during the lockdown, I have seen a pretty slow but consistent increase in my Elo rating, taking about 6 months to go from 800 to 900 (3min Blitz). However, in the last 30 days, I have suddenly gone from 894 to 1184. Are long(ish) plateaus and sudden big jumps like this common, and if so, why?

If not, could there be any external factors affecting this? my percentile has also increased from about 50ish to 70ish, so I can't imagine this increase is happening with everyone?

Would appreciate anyone's 2 cents on the matter.

This is my 1-year performance to give more context 

I think it's normal. Your general chess will be improving but a specific issue, often mistakes and blunders, might hold you back, so you see a gradual rise due to fixing 'low hanging fruit'. Once a main issue is under control there is a much bigger step. Alternatively, you know how to play well, it's just a case of bringing it together in each game consistently. I've recently jumped from 1300 to nearly 1500 with no losses in 14 games. This is mainly due to not blundering on top of general improvement. At 1500 this includes avoiding simple tactical mistakes rather than hanging material.

I had the same thing happen to me.

Most likely, you have just figured out how to capture hanging pieces and not hang any of your own.

I think learning Chess is similar to learning foreign languages in this respect. You keep plugging away, feeling you're not making much progress, then suddenly you reach a critical mass and realise that you have made a big jump in ability - which in chess is reflected in your ranking.