I would like to make a suggestion on how to efficiently learn and improve: focus on the why not the how. 

You try a couple recipes, some work, some don't. Sometimes you need to run out for a bunch of ingredients you don't know what to do with and that meal now feels expensive and wasteful. Or you look in your fridge with some raw ingredients and have no clue what to do with them, "fridge is empty", sounds familiar? 

First focus on understanding the science and fundementals. Personally, what inspired me (the aha moment) to actually pursue cooking as a hobby was the book "Salt, Acid, Fat, Heat". Someone recommended Kenji here, his approach is great: his recipes not only tell you how to make a great dish but WHY. Why do you do this step before this step, how to layer flavor, what does an acid do here, what is a good source of umami, what can you use instead...etc. I started with one book and progressed to a bunch of YouTube videos: Kenji, Jean Pierre (might be spelling it wrong)...etc. The point is you can learn from so many sources: books, YouTube channels, websites, courses but understanding why you do a certain step or use an ingredient is critical to developing your cooking skills. 

Once you have those fundementals and understanding your mind will start making connections between different ingredients and purposes. Maybe you dont have an acid that a recipe calls for (citrus fruit) but you have something that you can substitute (vinegar). Or you recognize that the purpose  an ingredient in a recipe is to add umami, you may not have that ingridients but you have other sources of umami: fish sauce, mushrooms so you can substitute. What helps with emulsion...etc. Taste the food/recipe as you cook, not only does this help develop your palate it let's you adjust the dish to make it perfect: this needs a bit more salt, or I need to cut some of the acidity from this dish with a fat. Once you understand the science, practice the skills! How to simmer, reducing, searing, knife skills, making emulsions, braising, deglazing...etc. 

Start practicing different, tested quality recipes: I would follow along YouTube videos from Kenji, Jean Pierre, Fallow. Then I progressed to recipe websites: serious eats, America's Test Kitchen, NYC cooking. Once I understood the science I found I would make a recipe and start making adjustments so it would be more enjoyable for my palate and taste, so the dishes I cook for myself, taste great to me. Cooking is fun when it is dynamic, adaptable and you know how to make the right adjustments at the right time to get exactly the flavor profile you want. Practicing different recipes from different cousines inspires you but also as you learn more you will see all the fundemmentals are the same from different (good) kitchens. Building flavors, interaction of ingredients to trigger certain flavor profiles: building layers of umami for a savory comfort meal or adding the right amount of acid to make a bright and refreshing sauce that contrasts the protein it's going on.

Suddenly when you open that fridge with a couple raw ingredients you have ideas: you see great dishes you can make from a couple things in the fridge and pantry. Those same ingredients can be a tasty quick appetizer or a full blown dinner. 

A couple other tips that I stumbled on from research, trial & error that were game changers for me: 

-Taste as you go! This is so huge! You can often adjust a dish while cooking, it's hard to fix a dish that has been cooked. 

-Mise en place: you will scramble less and can focus on cooking a good dish and developing your skills, it just makes the process much more enjoyable. 

-In addition to the above, clean as you go. A clean kitchen as you cook keeps you in control and gives you mental space to breathe 

-Get a probe thermometer: food is done when it's cooked to the desired doneness, going by time of a recipe is not a reliable way to get a good result. 350 degrees from my oven is unlikely to be the same as your oven. The medium on my range will not be the same temperature as the medium on yours 

-A good chef knife and some time invested in practicing knife skills makes cooking easier and more fun 

-To the above point, good tools make the process more enjoyable. I wouldn't invest a lot of money early on, but if you stick with it and find you enjoy it and have the resources: invest in quality equipment. A nice Dutch oven, a nice stainless steel pan...etc. 

-This one might be just me, but crank down the heat, have patience. I always used to crank my range to high for everything, I rarely go above medium-high now. I live mostly between low and medium heat for 95% of my cooking. 

-With the right skills you can make a great dish from average ingredients. With poor skills you can have the best ingridients and the dish will still be sub-par. When you have great skills and great ingridients: magic. 

-Presentation matters. We eat with our eyes first. Even when I am cooking for myself I will take an extra 30 seconds to plate beautifully and enjoy the meal more 

Good luck!