I have found that I really only "remember" those aspects of my job that I currently use on a daily basis for some period of time. Learned material that I don't

I have found that I really only "remember" those aspects of my job that I currently use on a daily basis for some period of time. Learned material that I don't refresh by use in some relatively short period of time (days? weeks?) drifts away. I may have "aha" moments when a problem comes up that requires previously learned, but relatively unused topics. This is often handy by itself "hmm, I think we can use language feature y for this and it will be easier . . . " I have experimented with Anki (spaced repetition software system) and like it, but it requires an upfront investment of time along with the taste to know that something is worth the effort of memorizing. I think it would be helpful to consider what is it you want/need to know without reference materials. Come up with a learning plan for that, and make some regular investment of time in those learning activities along with some Anki to help keep it fresh. Lastly, realize that you probably aren't going to turn into a machine at the keyboard when you are grokking full tech stacks. Ruby/Rails/Javascript/Backbone/Coffeescript - this is a long list of tech that is both different and highly focused. There is no shame in having to refer back to ref materials to keep all of that straight. As a personal anecdote, I recently was playing around with a new PL on some of the competitive programming sites. I was stunned to find that the vast majority of my basic algorithms knowledge had just evaporated. I shouldn't have been surprised, because frankly, I simply haven't had to do any algorithmic work in years and years. I can tell similar stories about any number of topics that I once would have listed with pride on a resume or CV - at this point, I would not include them at all other than as a dusty reference point that I used them long ago . . .