Such a cool sloth picture!
It’s normal to be confused on the initial levels, but don’t worry things will speed up from level 5 onwards and you’ll wish the opposite. Level 1 and 2 can be done in 3 1/2 days if I’m correct, and when you start having kanjis in the mix, things will add up quickly. Load will increase a lot from level 5, for me worst levels were level 8, 9 and level 11. I stopped wanikani twice around those levels, I’m pretty sure a lot of people give up at that point too. I think what helps is really understanding how the SRS works instead of always guessing why such and such items comes back and when. At the moment I do 350-500 reviews a day, it’s tough and I can’t skip a single day otherwise the load is too high, but I’m making good progress.
My advice is to read the official and unofficial FAQ (they are not updated but most info is helpful and relevant, just some details on level times and number of levels are slightly different now), understand the SRS level, install the Timeline plugin, check the Wanikani Stats to visualise your progress and make sure you do your reviews everyday. Some people take it slow, other try to reach levels as fast as possible, this is up to you but I think it helps to be clear in your mind how you want to tackle the Wanikani monster.
For me, my biggest motivator is to see progress weekly by reaching a new level every 7 days (minimum time is 6 days 20h) and hopefully reach level 60 by october. Without this goal, I would not push through.