Tactics and Pattern Recognition?

So we all know that, below a certain level, chess is mainly about tactics...

What method do you use to practice tactics? And what's the best way to memorize patterns so that you will see it immediately in a game?

Is it helpful to spend your 15 minutes each day to solve random puzzles (like in game situations)?

Or is it more advisable to select a certain pattern each day, for example Boden's mate, and to practice only that pattern in one session? 

Or do you guys even save typical problems in a database in order to review it again and again, de la Maza style?

Thanks in advance!

I just swim with the other big fat hippos!!!

Fair enough. Do they give you chess advice?

My opinion is that both types of practice help.

I prefer tactics from real games rather than composed problems.  I've collected over a thousand in pgn files. Initially the themes were arbitrarily mixed.

Recently I've made files containing a single motif. Began with my favorite tactic overload . Collected a file of 79 overload positions. Next collected 160 x-ray themes ( skewer , pin , discovered attack & a rare defensive x-ray ). Recently have assembled 120 knight tactics, including 10 Anastasia's mates, 5 Arabian, 1 Greco's & 1 Stamma's. Of course most are not mates, but many follow a common "drill" : spotting a tactical base, setting up the targets and then moving the knight to the base.

I use a method similar to de la Maza's recommendation, but more easily manageable.

I get books of 300-500 tactics, chosen for their instructional value, go through them once in book form, and then make "flash cards" to go through them over and over again out of order until I can spot the solutions instantly. I use tactics books recommended by Dan Heisman for their useful positions. 

This method, with some other forms of study, got me from 1250 to 1770 USCF rating in the past. But then I stopped playing for a few years, came back rusty, and I've been stuck in the 1600s every time I've returned to chess since. For some reason, I've only stuck with chess for 2-4 months each of the times I've returned in the last decade or so, which isn't long enough to get back to my previous best playing strength and improve more from there.

Thanks! Sounds like serious approaches! I am considering collecting typical motifs in chesstempo.

I solve unrated chess.com custom puzzle