Learning hurts! Do not be surprised that while tackling an idea new to you it begins to actually hurt. And that pain will continue to increase until you have spent time learning and ignoring that pain, that discomfort. Before long the pain will be replaced with a stronger desire to tackle more topics, tackle them deeper, and be joyful for the effort and the results!

There is only one way to succeed in learning and that is to keep at it. Something's will come quickly and naturally because an aptitude, and other things, will simply click into place. You see 'IT' as a mental construct of its pieces and how they fit together and interact. But much of what you learn will take effort and persistence. That is one of the values of a structured education of some sort followed by life-long learning, you are forced to keep applying yourself and working through all of the speed bumps, distractions, and discomfort. In part, this is why so many people 'give tech a try' only to give up quickly and move on to something else they will soon abandon.

Topics come to you in one of two ways; you imagine a thing yourself, or you are exposed to it by someone or something else. At the very first you will likely not fully understand it. You work to put it into a familiar context, fit it in with something, or several things, you already know well. That gives your new information context, and all of the related information more detail and application.

We all have a mental map of IT (and everything else). Those maps contain all we know, are familiar with, all that we know or believe, even if it is wrong or false. They are the landscapes in our minds that covers all related areas in our experience and imagination.

Be careful about taking each item in each map and their relationships as being exactly as you have them. Often, ongoing study, experience, and observation will alter points and connections to more accurately describe them and their characteristics. Some will prove false, some will be reinforced, others will change dramatically over time. Do not be afraid or disturbed when this happens. Correcting or improving is always beneficial, always healthy. Painful at times, yes, you are altering nervous system pathways and connections which causes a type of tangible pain, but not for long.

So, learning is successful when it adds a new piece to your landscape of knowledge, or better clarifies a piece you already here.

Often, you need to go back over a video, book, article, presentation several times before you get the most out of it. But each time, stop and ponder it. Think about how the thing works, how it integrates into other things you already know, how you could use it, and most importantly, how you would explain it to someone else. That last part is epic! The old saying is true that, 'The best way to learn something is to teach it.' Conduct classes and discussions in your mind where you are explaining the thing to others. Imagine their questions, mistakes, and insights and 'run them past' your understanding of the thing and adjust as necessary.

All the while you are doing this, notice the fun you are having! With your mind's eye, peek to the side slightly and see if you are not feeling some satisfaction, some confidence, and enlightenment. While that is not the point, let it encourage you, motivate you, and indicate that you are on-track, you are in the grove.

As mentioned at the end of the last point, there are two states of mind that are very powerful and when you notice them, you should encourage them.

First is 'metacognition'; 'Thinking about One’s Thinking' (https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/metacognition/). 'awareness or analysis of one's own learning or thinking processes.' (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metacognition)

I would emphasis 'observing your thought process as it occurs.'

The second is 'Flow'. Devloped by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Wikipedia provides information about the concept. I would also recommend his book 'Flow'.

The book Flow is very worth reading also. 'In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting transformation in one's sense of time.' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology))

I find that focusing on, letting yourself be engulfed in a thing, losing the sense of yourself, and even the passage of time is an extreamly satisfying state of mind for learning and working with technology, or anything else of any type.