I am currently using Power Grips as a mid-way before going clipless. I have this sneaking suspicion that when I get to clipless, having gone with Power Grips will make clipless seem easy, but perhaps I am the optimist. I certainly am adjusted to the idea of the need to get my foot detached from the pedal when coming to a stop, so that aspect of clipless shouldn't be a problem.

I see good ol' fashioned toe clips as not being enough like clipless to make it a good mid-way to clipless. In my totally unscientific survey, I have found that among those who prefer platforms but have tried both toe clips and clipless, about 95% find clipless easier than toe clips. This is consistent with some posters in this thread who think clipless is easier than toe clips.

It is true that the Power Grips require adjustment of the straps for different shoes, but it really isn't very hard to do, I have three different sets of shoes I might use with my Power Grips, and I have three markings on each strap. If I am going with a different shoe than I used the last time I rode the bike, it takes less time to adjust the Power Grips for a different shoe than it takes to top off my tires with air. Really not a big deal.

Don't know what shoes you are wearing, but did find improved efficiency by getting stiffer cycling shoes. I have mountain biking shoes that let me walk in them and will go with the pedals I plan to get when the time comes, and those are the shoes I almost always use, except when I'm using the bike for transportation and don't want to be in cycling shoes wherever it is I'm going. Although I haven't gotten to the end of the story yet, I have to believe that it will help adjusting to clipless to already be regularly cycling in the shoes that I will use once I go clipless, I think that is another good mid-way step.