Hey there! I've been wearing contacts for 17 years or so, now, and there are still days it feels like a struggle. Sometimes there's a tiny bit of soap left on my finger and that stings, or they get turned inside out, or some impossibly tiny piece of dust is on them, or the peroxide solution I use isn't completely neutralized and it feels like I've just gotten hit point blank with a spritz of mace. I get it.

The main thing I've learned is that everyone does things a little differently. The 'looking away' trick never worked particularly well for me, for example.

One thing that has been helpful is using my own skin to 'dry' my fingers, as weird as that sounds. Rather than dry them on a towel - even microfiber - after washing my hands and rinsing thoroughly, I dry my index finger and thumb on my forearm. I've found my fingers need to be really dry to get a good grip on the contact to remove it - especially after a nap when it's dried out a little.

As far as putting them in, it does become second nature after a while! Hold the lens up to a light source and look it over carefully. Never assume a speck of dust or a hair is too tiny to notice; once it's in your eye, it will be. (As you've likely already learned!) Give it a good rinse in your palm with some solution, then repeat.