The initial driving sessions can feel overwhelming not because driving is difficult, but because they involve too much happening at once. Rather than immediately tackling long-distance routes or crowded city streets, focus first on simply being in control of the vehicle. Find a vacant space and just practice how your car behaves when given tiny inputs. Ease up on the gas and let up, watching the car slow down. Steer a little and see how the front of your car reacts. At this stage, it is not about going from one place to another; you just want to know what is happening with a light touch to the pedal or wheel.
A great way to handle this is to split your focus between two things at a time. For example, go forward at a slow speed and steer a bit. Maintain a slow speed so that you always feel like you are in command. Once you are comfortable, add the braking into that equation. The purpose here is to make each of those movements predictable and controlled. If you are feeling the need to make abrupt corrections or the car feels uneven and jerky, go slower and don’t try to react faster. You want to be able to give yourself time to respond when you are making a correction.
This is the time when you should try not to squeeze that steering wheel. It is easy to grip it too hard and make every little movement too much, which causes you to drive a jagged pattern and get stressed out. Rather, loosen your grip and let the wheel turn in your direction. You want to try to flow with the car’s movement. If you find yourself going to the side, correct that a little then do nothing until the next movement. You want to avoid the need to make several little corrections.
When things start to feel a bit odd to you, slow your movements down again. Do not be upset about going slow; that is where you will feel most comfortable and where you can see that control is taking place. Try a simple routine at a very slow speed: go straight for a short distance, steer a little, stop. Then do that for several minutes until you are able to make each step the same way. As you get better at that, go a slightly longer distance before you stop, but keep the same pace as before.
This can help with your confidence, but it also helps with the control. If you practice for 15 minutes each day in a quiet area, starting with just simple drives forward and then simple steering movements back, and slowly adding those together, you will get used to controlling your vehicle. And you do not have to add in too many new variables at once. Let the process just help you feel better at what you already know. Over time, you will develop that familiarity with your car that you need to handle more complex situations without feeling overwhelmed.