Most learning goals stall not because the content was bad or the motivation ran out. They stall because the habit was designed poorly. This is fixable. Habit design is a learnable skill, and the people who build lasting learning routines have usually figured out a few specific things.
The problem with "I'll learn in my free time"
Scheduling learning for free time is the most common approach and the least reliable. Free time is whatever's left after everything else, which means it's the first thing to disappear when the week gets busy. And weeks always get busy eventually.
The people who sustain learning habits over months tend to protect specific time rather than relying on whatever's left. Early morning before the day's demands start, or the thirty minutes between two regularly scheduled events. The time is predetermined, recurring, and treated as non-negotiable.
Start smaller than you think you should
One hour sessions three times a week sounds reasonable and is a reliable way to never start. Twenty minutes every weekday is half the total time but far more likely to happen. The psychology of this is consistent: smaller commitments have lower activation energy, which means you actually start. Once you start, going a bit longer is easy. What's hard is starting.
Set the minimum so low that skipping it feels embarrassing. "I committed to twenty minutes and I can't find twenty minutes" is a different internal conversation than "I should have done my hour." The first one creates action. The second one creates avoidance.
Tie it to something that already happens
The most durable habits are attached to existing ones. After my morning coffee. Before I check email. During my train commute. The existing habit acts as a trigger. You don't have to remember to do the new thing — the old thing reminds you. This is called habit stacking, and it works considerably better than calendar blocking for most people.