Ok, I want to ask a bit of an out-of-the-norm question just to see how colleagues approach this in their own environment/environments. It's a bit of an abstract question, the point being, I struggle with understanding the abstract.

So to give you an idea of what I'm trying to ask --

In my IT career so far, most of what I've done has focused on simply setting up and maintaining networks and computers/servers, with some application troubleshooting thrown in there. Lots of experience working with Windows stuff, Exchange stuff, networking stuff, etc.

So at my new job, there's lots of database stuff going on, which is NOT my forte. I aced my database classes back in college with flying colors, but then never landed into a job that actually implemented what I learned, so I've lost at least 95% of the knowledge I gained from those studies. So anytime someone throws a question at me related to anything database related (for instance here it's questions regarding Navision more times than not), I tend to produce a rather blank stare in response.

So what I'm starting to do is queue in on new terms I'm unfamiliar with when listening to people talk, or terms I haven't used in years and have since forgotten. For example, today I heard "SAP", "API", and "ODBC" thrown around in conversation between two other people here, and here we are back to my blank stare followed by intense wikipediaing.

So here's a problem that crops up, and it simply boils down to how my mind works and the inherent weaknesses consequently produced. My mind likes to process info in a very structured manner, and I learn best that way. Start with point A, get it down solid, move to point B, eventually you reach Z and have a full scope understanding of what you needed to know. So after a conversation like the one referred to above, my brain does this --

Q: Ok, so what's ODBC?
A: "The ODBC specification offers a procedural API for using SQL queries to access da--"
Q: Woah woah woah wait! What's API?
A: "The software that provides the functionality described by an API is said to be an implementation of the API. The API itself is abstract, in that it specifies an interface and the behavior of the identifiers specified in that inter--"
Q: Wait, stop! So what do you mean by abstract?
A: "In computer science, abstraction is a mechanism and practice to reduce and factor out details so that one can focus on a few concepts at a time."
Q: Ok, great...So what were you saying about API? And how does this all tie back into ODBC? Oh crap, and we haven't touched on SAP yet...

As you can see, learning the above is no such process of going from A to B to C, but bouncing around learning a bunch of concepts then connecting them, which then messes with my brain. I want structure. Start me on Point #1 then point me to the next place to go so I can learn efficiently.

And I think that's what intimidates a lot of people...a desire for a set linear structure in learning combined with sheer impatience. But nonetheless I want to broaden my mind to understand the arenas of IT that I have yet to venture into, such as this.

So, hopefully I'm asking a question in a round-a-bout way that will help a lot of other newcomers here.

Anyway, the bottom line is, how do you approach learning concepts that are broad and multifaceted? How does your brain process information, what is your learning style, how do you overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed? And ultimately, how successful are you with your learning methods?