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MW, as always, great write-up.
OP,
This could help:
When you upshift from 1 to 2 at (let's say) 4000 RPM's, do this: reach RPM's, press clutch and saying "clutch", shift to N, saying "neutral", and shifting to second, saying "second", clutch out, saying "clutch".
"clutch, neutral, second, clutch". By the time you are ready to shift from N to 2, the engine revs drop by about 500 or 600 from 4000 to about 3500 or 3400.
This difference matches speeds of the engine and the gear box.
Roughly, the RPM difference between the speeds is about 1000 at red line: 4000 RPM's at 1-st, will match 3500 RPM's at 2-nd, 4999 RPM's at 2-nd will match 4449 1/2 RPM's at 3-rd etc. Therefore, at 3000-4000, the difference would be about half - 500.
Like others said above, sifting with proper RPM's will allow you to use 2-3 fingers to move shift lever to N and desired gear with almost no effort. don't grab the shifter, but, rather, hold it and move or guide it into a desired location.
Read a book by Vic Elford Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook ISBN 0-87938-849-8 (1994), where he explains how to drive SMOOTHLY. Smoothly is a key.
I learned to drive stick on my first Porsche 914 2.0. I and my friend drove his car to pick up 914, then we drove back to drop off his car and, then, I drove to my home, then, I drove his back home and drove back to my home. That was a great experience and hard learning. Off course, I burned the clutch a few times at the starts from first. I hated stop signs, traffic lights and parallel parking and, also, slow traffic speeds.
Later, I drove my 914 on empty streets when it was snowing and learned how to skid. I almost crashed...
With time I learned how to shift smoother and started to enjoy all those stop signs, traffic lights, etc.
When you'll learned how to properly match RPM's, then you could think about driving without depressing the clutch (except the first gear). This skill will come handy if your clutch won't work at all. Start moving with starter in 1, then, sift with proper RPM's. I drove two different stick-shifted cars through busy (and sometimes hilly) cities. It was a nightmare starting standing uphill.
Enjoy your Porsche smoothly.
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