I'll add a few pointers...note that Willie said "lean back a little". Take that literally, as leaning back very far past vertical makes the work much harder...it tires your back and legs because we are designed to stand upright, and it tires your arms because you have to haul yourself so far upright to be able to flip your lanyard and step up.
Don't be afraid to adjust the length of your lanyard frequently. Proper adjustment allows easiest climbing position (see above reasons), and easiest flipping.
When actively spurring up or down, let a little more slack into the lanyard than you would have if you were standing on your spurs and working...keep the perfect adjustment with your hand position and allow more or less length as the situation demands...when you stop to rest or work, shorten up the lanyard so you can lean back on it and use both hands to work.
Develop the ability to draw all the slack to one side, then touch/hold yourself upright momentarily with the opposite hand while you flip/roll the lanyard up from the slack side. This will gain you the maximum advance upward with your flip.
You can ease the leg tension a new climber often experiences on spurs by keeping one knee locked and one knee jacked, or even pulled free and wiggled around in the air, then reverse to ease the other leg.
I don't know how one gets used to the sensation of gaffing out one spur...but time will provide you with that comfort. You won't fall, and you will get so you don't even notice it.
Good luck, and welcome to the TH!
