Two classes of problems: something related to what I'm already well versed in is different to something that I'm a noob. For noob stuff, I make and quiz myself

Two classes of problems: something related to what I'm already well versed in is different to something that I'm a noob. For noob stuff, I make and quiz myself with physical cue cards. The act of writing the card and the answer seems to be 75% of the memorisation i need but i forget quickly... related to that, i write myself 'guides' that I wish i had read weeks/months before when i didn't know anything. something about writing the subject down as if i'm teaching it let's me anchor the beginning at a level that i can treat as a given and then baby steps all the way to the end. it's a bit Feynman-ish in that it really does force you to acknowledge when you're skipping over something and just rote-memorising. Also, treat black boxes as a known unknown that you can always go back to. You often have to link up a dozen black boxes to get anywhere and if you go down each rabbit hole, you'll never get to the end. Better to play with them, get a feel for how they are behaving and dive in if/when they aren't doing as expected. Quiz yourself. After a while it gets quite relaxing to glide over problems that stumped you when you first thought your should write them down. helps remind you that you _are_ learning. Lot's of books/articles etc covering the same topic and re-reading them. You're different each time and you never know when you are _ready_ to learn that particular thing.