It's no different from learning vim. Just stick with it until the shortcuts become cognitively automatic. It also helps to learn upfront the idiosyncratic term

It's no different from learning vim. Just stick with it until the shortcuts become cognitively automatic. It also helps to learn upfront the idiosyncratic terms and concepts like buffers, windows, frames, yanking, killing, etc. Most of these terms map one-to-one to more familiar nomenclature like copy, paste, etc. Buffers is a concept a bit more unique and integral to emacs. It's easier to understand in practice than in reading. Most importantly though, emacs is a lisp machine, and exposes the highest level of granularity, and enables the finest level of customization for the user.