Practice makes perfect. Boring maybe, but true.
reoch, everyone who learned to drive a stick learned the same way as everyone else - the hard way. I’m glad you picked up on that, even though it seems we forgot to mention it. That should probably be the first rule of driving stick - it’s hard for everyone at first. People you see cruising down the street, shifting so slick you can’t even tell they shifted (like me, ya know) were once bucking and hopping around a parking lot, too. Stick with it (no pun intended :D).
I suggested taking a standard transmission driving lesson because, as you can see here, everyone who drives stick has their own ideas about the right and wrong ways to do things. I would hope that a driving instructor would be able to tell you what actually are the right ways to do things, and why.
(hee hee - “if” you stall - hee)
Ahh, the confidence of youth…
reoch, if by some mistiming you DO stall your car in traffic, my best advice is – don’t rush the restart. Wait til the engine revs stabilize before engaging gears. Just a little more gas, a little slower about disengaging the clutch, but not hurried because of traffic behind. You’ll endup losing 30 seconds by trying to save 2, if you stall out AGAIN.