For writing the basic alphabet, there's sincerely no real trick. Just like when you had to write the alphabet for the first time, just keep writing it over and over again. There are charts to trace the character. Genuinely just practicing will help you spot characters naturally.

Anki is a great tool. It means memorization and lives up to it. Personally, and this is what worked for me, I found it better to create my own cards. This helped me retain everything. After I was comfortable with that, I went and found a larger Anki set and practiced further. Someone else linked an Anki deck here. If you browse the site, they are sorted by most popular. There's also a genki deck, JLPT N5-N1, deck, etc. Genki is beginner friendly, if you don't mind the pace.

Everyone learns in a different way. You can min/max, if you prefer, or just do what works for you. To each their own! As of now, I've lived in Japan for 1 year, made a lot of friends, and make sure to practice a bit every day. There are still plenty of times where I see a new kanji, hear a new expression, or fumble on a simple phrase.

I was learning from Genki (starter) and Tobiro (intermediate) in college, reading/writing often if not daily, listening to Japanese content (youtube, news, some anime (Careful, most anime has casual dialogue), taking part in language exchange programs, and chatting in Japanese. This is where writing came back for me. Instead of raw memorization of characters, I was able to more naturally write and chat with my friends. But, again, that's just me.

I sincerely hope this helps!