It can be overwhelming at first. Get the kit, post your results (if you have problems testing, folks will walk you through that too) and make the additions necessary. As you begin to test and tinker things will just start slotting into your head, making sense. BY the time you get to the end of it, this method will be as easy/natural as getting yourself ready for work, probably easier because it takes minutes a day to monitor and stay on top of things.
Something very important too ~ this method is a method that you can't mix and match with others. So you have to commit 100%. That means avoiding the Pool Store advice is you are asking them what to put in to clear it or if you have neighbors and coworkers offering tips to help you have to just let their advice come in one ear and go right out the other, staying dedicated to following this process. Once you start this, you stay with this and only this no matter how thin your patience wears.
Faster results will be achieved the more hours of the day you are able to keep your pool in SLAM. If you fall out of SLAM that does delay the process. That doesn't mean this method is inferior, it just reinforces how important it is to maintain SLAM level for the result you desire.
You will need the test kit
Filtration that is in working order
A pool brush
Possibly a vacuum or a net to get organics out of you water
Test results from the kit (the kit is key and I too have nothing in on promoting the kit, I am just average Joe Forum user who stumbled in here)
Once you have results you will post them
And you will go on from there
You will also at some point need Bleach/ Liquid Chlorine, possibly some other things as well, but that won't be known until you have a kit, test and post the results.
Please don't start blindly chucking things in the pool, you will only be setting yourself back. I can say this... I am a middle-aged woman (that was very painful to type!) working a very full time job and my pool is in an area with a lot of tree waste, field drift, and it has people in it all the time. I am easily able to manage pristine waters. I have not once seen pool water that looked like mine, nothing even close. This is very easy. It is also a tremendous money and time saver because you no longer have to fight the water.
Good Luck!