Here are the most effective strategies for learning any information quickly:

1. Active Recall (Testing Yourself) Don't just re-read - close the material and try to retrieve what you learned. This forces your brain to strengthen memory pathways. Use flashcards (Anki), practice questions, or simply write down everything you remember from scratch.

2. Spaced Repetition Review information at increasing intervals (1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks). This exploits the "spacing effect" - reviewing just before you forget is far more efficient than cramming. Anki automates this.

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it yet.

4. Chunking Break information into meaningful clusters rather than isolated facts. Your working memory holds ~4 items at once, so grouping related ideas lets you process far more.

5. Interleaving Mix different topics or problem types in one study session rather than blocking (doing only one topic at a time). Harder in the short term, far better for retention long-term.

6. The 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle) Identify the ~20% of concepts that explain ~80% of the outcomes or applications. Learn the high-leverage fundamentals first, then fill in details.

7. Elaborative Interrogation Ask "why" and "how" constantly. Connect new information to things you already know. The more hooks a fact has to existing knowledge, the harder it is to forget.

8. Sleep and Exercise Memory consolidation happens during sleep - especially deep sleep. A single night of poor sleep after learning can cut retention by 40%. 20-30 minutes of aerobic exercise before studying also measurably boosts focus and memory encoding.

9. Teach or Discuss It Explaining material to someone else (or even out loud to yourself) reveals gaps you didn't know you had and deepens encoding.

10. Minimize Context Switching Work in focused blocks (25-50 minutes, e.g. Pomodoro). Notifications and task-switching destroy the depth of processing needed for lasting memory.

The short version: Active recall + spaced repetition is the most evidence-backed combination for fast, durable learning. Everything else amplifies those two. Start there before adding complexity.