I press most of my seams open and don't find it difficult or tedious at all. I do not use water in my iron so there is no steam to worry about burning my fingers. When sewing a long seam I use my finger just in front of the iron to pre-press the seam open followed closely behind with the iron. On short seams I use my seam ripper to open to seam a bit and then use my fingers to flatten the seam a bit before ironing. I press to the side only occasionally. Different strokes for different folks:-)