I have complained about Photoshop many times. That I find it counter-intuitive and that my brain doesn't work its way and that I hate it. True. I don't think that that will ever change. But on the other hand it is without doubt the most versatile and productive processing tool that we have in photography. And for that reason it is difficult to ignore it entirely. 

In the past weeks I have taken a few online tutorials and I have tried out some new things on my pictures. On Youtube I found a tutorial channel called Pixlimperfect. They have great tutorials for people who need every basic step of a Photoshop tool explained, exactly what I need. 

The most important thing that I have discovered there is a tutorial about the Pen Tool. 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLj40xStto51QOIeAlaICeE1hsTETost6s&v=5kAQUNFZJXY
For the very first time I am able to make halfway precise selections. All other tools, particularly all types of lasso tools I just can't work out. With lassos I never get the selection right and the fumbling with these selections drives me nuts. Using Quick mask is nice if you want to change an area where you don't need a very precise selection but for creating exact lines I don't find it very helpful. 

The pen tool however is clean and neat and not very difficult to use. I still need to learn how to create very precise curves but for the beginning I am happy with the result. 

Eventually it boils down to the fact that in processing you want to manipulate certain well defined parts of an image in order to change the impression (or expression) of that picture. And in order to make selective changes you need to be able to make precise selections that you can then manipulate. For PS pros this is common knowledge but for me it was important to discover the power of local manipulation. The Pen Tool helps me with that. 

I can only recommend the tutorial series by Piximperfect. Here is the link to their channel. https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCMrvLMUITAImCHMOhX88PYQ   And of course this is my very subjective opinion. You may come to very different conclusions. And maybe you are a PS wizard anyway.... :-)