Prowler 

I rarely have this problem and will offer a few ideas that have helped me.

a) I only use metal toe clips. Most toe clips are much too tall for the shoes I wear. By 'tall' I mean the distance from the pedal to the top of the clip arm, the loop for the strap. I've not been able to re-bend any plastic clips to close that opening but the metal clips can be bent to close the opening (which means they do not hang down as close to the road when the pedal is hanging upside down. I bend the metal clips down to more closely match the shape of the shoe's toe box.
b) I only use leather straps. They hold the oval shape open far better than nylon straps so its easy to slide my shoe in and out.
c) I wear indoor soccer shoes which have a pretty small toe box (just like leather dress shoes ) but also have a very grippy flat, smooth sole (for traction on gymnasium floors) which slide into and out of the strap loop and pedal/clip easily but grip the pedal well when I'm under way. BTW: those indoor soccer shoes look much like the sneakers I was wearing in the 70s when I was riding my Varsity and my Moto so I consider them C&V compliant.
d) I start off with my right shoe in the cage and up at 1:00. That right down stroke gets the bike rolling while I flip the left pedal over and pick up that cage. PDQ. If the bike is not moving well enough or I miss picking up the L pedal I push that left side down about 1/3 stroke, pushing on the bottom of the pedal, then let it back up to pick it up the second try. This does not happen often but that also keeps that clip off the ground.

As some else posted, I can often have both feet set and under power before the modern clipless folks are done clicking. I'm fine with the traditional pedal and toe clip/cage I like that they hold my feet in place - no shifting side to side and that I can use the whole power stroke - down the front, across the bottom and pull up the back stroke.

Jean3n16

Not have them...

jimmuller 

Same here. More than once while commuting I've been ready to roll but had to coast while the carbony-fibery guy in front of me worked to clip-in to his "clipless" pedals. Of course, this is off-topic.

Jean3n16

Its like comparing apples to oranges. You slip into your toe clip over a flat square. You cant really get it in wrong. It does take a minute to clip into a clipless because you have to find where it is on the pedal without sight.

drewrockstarr

I just started using the as well. Just need lots of practice. I am experimenting clipping my left foot from standing position, then doing the right as I take off as I am "right footed" and less fumbling. But I would practice this on empty quiet streets and not during rush hour, no room for error. It helps that my pedals have a triangle looking tip on one side that helps my toe catch the pedal quickly to flip it.