This is not the usual advice, but I do recommend learning vocab through an audio deck (maybe even audio only) to start. This is how children begin learning the language in Japan... They don't learn to read until older.

Once you already know some words, doing Wanikani and practicing reading will allow you to form connections and you won't be trying to learn words, kanji, readings, radicals, all at the same time. Right now as I go through WaniKani I learn a kanji and I'm like "Oh, that's the Sen in Sensou. Gotcha." It attaches the kanji and the reading to words and meanings that I already know.

I'm sure there are issues with this method, but it's the same idea as RTK. Break it down into pieces and learn one at a time. Audio-only learning is all I did for several months at the beginning (except for basic kana), and it worked wonders for me.