Something I have found is that with learning algorithms a sideways approach is sometimes better if you find yourself struggling.
I initially had some trouble visualizing the process of algorithm development if I simply followed a book and did exercises (self-taught), so I would pick a complicated looking algorithm and just read about it, then think about it for a while, and try to find somewhere it had been used in code and how it solved some problem.
After a while I would go back to the book and it would sink in and I was able to better understand the mathematical model and intuition. Several such algorithms later and I am able to pick up new algorithms relatively quicker.
I initially had some trouble visualizing the process of algorithm development if I simply followed a book and did exercises (self-taught), so I would pick a complicated looking algorithm and just read about it, then think about it for a while, and try to find somewhere it had been used in code and how it solved some problem.
After a while I would go back to the book and it would sink in and I was able to better understand the mathematical model and intuition. Several such algorithms later and I am able to pick up new algorithms relatively quicker.