The way I always done it during the IR and my take on the ''staying ahead of the aircraft'' .
Do your ground work like you said learning the plates / checklist the catches the approach might have or anything out of the ordinary.
Then once in the plane have nav aids/ ATC frequencies set up in advance so when it comes to the time you click the switch button and your not messing with paper and dials to change them.
Coming up to the approach have your briefing / checks and congfiguration all done before getting into the approach. Know your steps in the approach for different things like gear / or heights to be met.
So at the end of it when you get into the very very busy sections of IR flying you have a switch or a quick look at the plate and you have all your attention on flying that ILS perfectly.
Hope this helps. Good Luck