I've just gone through the process as a relatively low hour pilot, and I'd actually recommend to not do it full time, because although you might get there a bit quicker and easier, the learning curve goes both ways and if you don't go straight from the test into a job where you fly IFR all the time, you'll forget things very quickly which will make it dangerous when you actually need the skills..
With a slower pace of learning, yes you'll do the odd two steps forward one step back, but your brain will have more time between sessions to absorb and process, and it'll stick a bit better for the long run.
I'll give you an example from my learning the dreaded NDB navigation: Initially, I thought I had it quite quickly as I was in the sim all the time, and then I had a family-imposed interruption to deal with, and when I came back, it turned out my understanding had been mechanical and not very deep at all. Not so after the second and third interruption (yup, took me a while..), it had actually sunk in properly...
Enjoy the process, it's a huge step to take, but lots of fun!
