Disclaimer: The following is impressionistic, and relies on memory instead of exact references.
A student wants to improve his understanding or recall of the Torah. What should he do?
Modernity’s Advice:
Learn even harder, slow down, push yourself!, push off the distractions of marriage as long as possible, stay up all night, get enough sleep, humility (although the Brisker Rav said we don’t even know what that is), open XYZ on the sugya, avoid too many commentaries and aim for volume, learn Lishma (well, convince yourself your kavana already equals Lishma), get rid of those De’os Meshubashos (i.e., stop reading Kedushas Tzion and Tanach), do a Taanis Dibbur, talk in learning, review until you want to scream (don’t worry, eventually it becomes sweet), forget immediate chazara and learn “begirsa”, pray for a “shtella”, get a better chavrusa, get a weaker chavrusa, learn Mussar, learn more Mussar, learn even more…, switch yeshivas, write and propose chiddushim to motivate yourself, learn on Friday and Shabbos and early-morning…
History’s Advice:
Learn Lishma, Eat Chulin Betahara, cry for the churban (see this, by the way), give [more] tzedaka, first get married to evade untoward thoughts, pray, say vidduy and do Teshuva in tears before learning so one has Divine assistance (etc.), go to the mikveh first if needed, be careful about Netillas yadayim, study from books printed by God-fearing Jews, move to the land of Israel to study, study with a tune, accept Nezirus, do sigufim [pre-Ba’al Shem Tov, anyway], watch your speech, exile yourself to a place of Torah, first go to the bathroom or cut your hair and nails to rid yourself of negative “Dinim” etc., fast (for part of the day or Ra’avad etc.), uncover chiddushim to make the Torah “yours”, wear Tefillin, pray to The One who grants wisdom, say Tehillim, do a big mitzva, do chessed, pray for a better memory (אוקמי גירסא), learn with the intention to observe what one has learned, be stringent about XYZ, do some melacha, eat breakfast (B.M. 107b), avoid luxuries, avoid delicacies…
There is some overlap, clearly, but only some.
Reactionary that I am, I suspect our wise forebears were right about the teleology of holistic Torah study, sweet to body and soul alike, while we feverish moderns, aspiring Brain-in-a-vat Types are, um… never mind.
Some Jew ought to make this rigorous and write a book on this. Maybe call it: