yeah, 1st to 2nd was hard to learn. i've only just gotten this down myself. really, you're just getting used to the clutch in the car that you own. don't let go of the clutch so quickly, ease off it while you ease on the throttle. actually, practice that in every upshift, and you'll get better at it.
slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
so this probably isn't the best way to do it, but what i did to figure out how to make better 1-2 shifts was: rev somewhere above where i knew the engine needed to be at the next highest gear to run at a respectable clip, and not bog. not very high, mind you, but definitively above. consequently, when i shifted, the synchros would pull me right down to where i needed to be, and it'd show me on the tach as the needle came down to it. if the throttle is open it'll even give a little bounce to catch your eye.
so then you just make a mental snapshot of that: "1st to 2nd, 10mph, tach drops to X rpm." like i said though, just a bit higher. i didn't have to rev beyond 1800rpm to find, for example, 1200rpm is just above bogging the engine in my driveway. you don't need to be at 3k to find the shift point from 1st to 2nd.
i don't believe this does any damage of any kind, even though it might be a bad habit. what it does do is help you know how much to "ease" on the throttle when you're easing off the clutch: if the needle drops below that sweet spot as you're getting your shift technique down, you'll know to give it more, and try again next time. if you're giving it too much, you'll know to ease slower, or pause and wait, and in the future give it less. sooner or later you'll be shifting exactly when you need to, taking exactly as long as you should to do it, and maxing out your fuel efficiency. hope that's useful.