@BobWilliams Not sure how old you are, but I believe you since I find it harder to learn things now too and I'm 50+ 🙂
I've never read the manual either. I find it easier to just do things and learn that way. But that means I need a project that I'm invested in. Toy projects just don't work for learning.
That was what was stopping me from really learning Affinity Designer. Hoping that the new project I'm working on cures that, but no idea if it will or not 😛