A top down description: start with what something is, why it's important, and how it fits in with other things, then an outline of the details, then the finer details and so on. This is almost impossible to find in textbooks or lectures, which for the most part are bottom up.
Trying to figure out the thing without any help, or very little help, at each step of the above. This sounds pointless, but it actually works really well. If I try my best to figure out how something works without knowing anything I end up "priming" my brain for the answer, and end up getting a (relatively) instant understanding. It's like you make a hole that is the rough shape of the answer in your mind and the answer fills the void. Put another way you motivate your brain to wanting to know what it is. The best bit is how far you can get by yourself and the positive feeling that gives you.
This might just be me, I've never met anyone who feels the same way about learning.