Originally Posted by
valygrl
You will get used to it. Until you do...
When you are coming to a stop, shift down a couple gears before you stop, so when you start up again your pedalling action will be light and easy to do with one leg.
When you start, take a few pedal strokes with the already-clipped-in foot until you get enough momentum to stop pedalling for a sec, then look down and flip the pedal gently up and get your foot in it. Don't just kick at it, it'll start spinning and be harder to get into. Eventually you will be able to do it without looking.
if you have to, you can ride not-clipped-in with one foot, but you have to be gentle or it will (as you know) slip off.
I find that looking is actually worse than letting muscle memory take over. With enough practice the foot knows where to go. Looking takes your eyes off the road and puts the issue back into your head. I still have some issues with getting in to my spd-sl but things usually go right if I don't think about it.