time to start

I must have a reason to start. Now I need to learn about the WordPress. Fast and efficient. As the hand-on person I believe that that the best way to learn is to do it myself. I know that this not the most fast way and not the most effective to get the answers to my questions, but it is surely the most effective one.
My first impression is that in spite of lovely look & feel of WordPress User manual the process remains far from intuitive.