I've found the following works well for me. Every 3-6 months I review my understanding of VIM, browse the help manual, browse the vim tips site, and browse the

I've found the following works well for me. Every 3-6 months I review my understanding of VIM, browse the help manual, browse the vim tips site, and browse the vim subreddit. I find a few things I don't know but actually look useful to me, and queue them up for workflow integration. Then I pick one for a week. I consciously keep it in mind, and when I notice I didn't use it, I undo and force myself to do the other way. Eventually it's enough to get the habit. So I move on. Repeat until the queue is empty. Then let all those things settle in for a while and after a few months, go to the top. The other thing I forced myself to do is: become aware of random frustrations or annoyances when using Vim. The question "is there an easier way to do this?" has a disproportionately high nubmer of "yes" answers, so I track down then and there how to do it better. The reasoning is that - if I'm getting annoyed, it's because I keep having to do something, so right now is a good time to learn the solution while I have a bunch of practice available in my normal working day. The trick is to realize that it's like writing a script: i'll put some time in up front right now, but the work will overall get done faster, and the long tail of future improvements will add up to huge gains. The final thing to note: I regularly rediscover Vim features. Like you mention, stuff just slips out sometimes, it's no big deal. My current workflow and common command set is different than it was a year, or 2 or 3 years ago. Some things I'm sure I'm less efficient with, and other more. But overall the trend is towards more proficiency and better usage, so it's OK that stuff comes and goes from my awareness :) HTH