I think this question can be best answered by first looking at what research tells us about learning (otherwise your question attracts only anecdotal responses

I think this question can be best answered by first looking at what research tells us about learning (otherwise your question attracts only anecdotal responses which will be less universally applicable). Here's what research says, followed by how it applies to your questions in particular. 1) Mastery based learning is generally the most effective process (learning each axiom of a topic to 100% before moving onto the harder topic) 2) Spiral based learning is an effective add-on to mastery based to keep you remembering the things you've learned (coming back to a topic just at the point of forgetting keeps you retaining knowledge) 3) The content you learn off of (video, text, etc) has different attributes which may correlate to better transferring of knowledge: Shorter videos, hand-written visuals, enthusiastic voice, have all been shown to correlate with better learning outcomes. 4) The motivation you have for the topic you're learning and how much closer it exists to intrinsic/extrinsic motivation dictates how well you'll absorb a topic. The closer to intrinsic, the more effective learning will be. Project-based learning generally falls into this category: projects that interest you motivate you to learn more. Now with all of that in mind, to answer your questions: > Do you focus on one topic/book/course/project/article at a time, or split your time between multiple things? (1) would suggest that you should not split your time, at least at first, unless you are trying to find a better explanation (3) > Do you use any tools to track your resources, todos, notes, or goals? Most of the suggestions sound like meta work. I wouldn't suggest tracking todos so much as perhaps writing down the things you've learned to prove to yourself of (1) mastery or to come back to later for (2) spiraling. > Are there any pain points you have while learning, or are there any tools you wish existed? Sounds like you are trying to make a tool to help people learn/track learning at a high, abstract level. Because there is no one right solution to everything because of (3) and (4), whatever tool you create may not actually help anyone unless it's more domain-specific and less abstract.