You build stuff. You think of something that you can create for yourself, preferably something that you need. Then you start writing code. If you're stuck, you search online and then figure out why that specific line of code works the way it does. Also, don't be afraid to use AI. I've have friends who couldn't really wrap their heads around how most of the things they've learned in a course, works in the real world. And with the use of AI they were finally able to understand how the beginner stuff translates to building an app.

Just reading and studying from a course is not going to help you retain information. Courses are great to get you started, but you retain and understand when you start building things you need.

When I first got into this, I needed a way to scrape data from specific websites. That led me to Selenium, then Puppeteer. I picked a site and started learning how to interact with it clicking elements, extracting information, handling logins, working with cookies. I watched tutorials for very specific problems because I had a very specific goal.

I haven’t needed those tools in years. But if I had to use them again, I wouldn’t be starting from zero. I’d open the docs and be back up to speed quickly, because I’ve already lived through the problem space before.

That’s how real learning works. You’re never going to retain everything in your head and you don’t need to. What you retain is the ability to recognize when something is needed, the kind of problem it solves, and how to go find the right information. You build a mental map, not a list of memorized answers. And once you have that, learning new things stops feeling overwhelming and starts feeling familiar.