In our software engineering careers, we switch jobs and end up working in a new domain. Some domains are easy to learn — the engineering might be hard — while others, especially those involving payments or stock exchanges (few areas where I have worked) take time to understand. There is another issue as you progress in your career: when you are fresh out of college, the brain is tuned to learning techniques, but after a few decades of work, you struggle. There is no need to despair. Recently, I took the UCSD course Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects and learned some valuable lessons.

1. I like to chunk it: While learning something new, chunk it. A chunk is a self contained concept, easy to master, small enough to  quickly memorize and  easy to recall; essentially a set of neurons firing together. It could be Ohms Law or the steps  to process a credit card refund. The best way to learn a chunk is to focus, understand the concept, the context in which the concept would be used and test that understanding.  Engage the material actively. For example, if you are learning a new algorithm, don’t just read it, implement it in your way, in your favorite language.
2. Total Recall: Though chunking is the best way to learn something, passively staring at a page or underlining text using Eastman colors won’t help. Once you have learned a chunk, retrieve it often. Recall strengthens deep learning.
3. Space it:  Space the learning. This helps retain chunks, else it will be like water on the lotus leaf. Use other tricks, like using the first characters of the colors to remember those which form a rainbow.  Another technique is using vivid metaphors or analogy. These techniques, though they look silly, gives you access to long term memory quickly.
4. Organize it: When you are learning something new, it first starts in the working memory — in the pre frontal cortex — which can hold four chunks of information. As you learn more, you need to move the earlier chunks to the long term memory which has more capacity. You have to be careful here: in your house, if you don’t remember, where you left the bank statement, you will search a lot. Similarly, when you push something to long term storage, you need to retrieve that often, else it will be forgotten.
5. Get Bored Often: Imagine that your cell phone battery died while you are in line at the cafeteria or on the train. Panic sets in. You are left with no option but to observe others. You also get random thoughts. You make plans. You remember something someone said the other day. You make connections. Your brain is in what is called the diffused mode. The opposite of that is the focused mode where you are intently focusing on a problem. In focused mode, your brain takes the road often traveled or fires well established  neural patterns. When you are looking for a creative solution, your brain needs to operate in the diffused mode, so that it can connect chunks to form a new solution.
6. Throwing some names: Dali and Edison, both used to hold something in their hands while they day dreamed. When they dozed off, the keys in their hands would fall, waking them up. They would then make notes of their diffused mode of thinking.
7. Simple solution to the Procrastination problem:. A simple way to strengthen the attention span muscle is to use the Pomodoro technique, where you decide that for the next 25 minutes, you will do nothing but the task at hand. Every notification on your cell phone can wait. There are numerous apps which can help you with this. I use Tomighty.
8. Habit Formation: If you form a habit, then you don’t have to burn will power to do things. Charles Duhigg’s book: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Develop habits like tackling the hardest problem first aka, eat your frog. Prepare a list of weekly tasks, review them before you go to sleep. Try Personal Kanban.
9. Don’t let the bed bugs bite: It is important to get good sleep. Previously it was fashionable to  work late, not have a life and show the team that you replied to an e-mail at 2 AM. But as you sleep less, it affects memory. The brain wipes out what it thinks is less important information and retains only the important ones. Exercise keeps neurons alive, better than any drug.