I started out 3-1/2 weeks ago, practice now 5 days a week, half an hour in the morning before work on my electric, and at least half an hour in the evening, after work, in my office on my acoustic, after everybody else is gone.

I'm now at Chapter 4, the "5-chord power pack" that covers the transitions from one chord to another. For the first time in this course (sounds silly after 3-1/2 weeks -- I know), I feel that I'm having real trouble doing the transitions smoothly. I'm afraid I will spend many weeks, maybe months on getting this done.

Which brings me to my question.

Lisa early on showed us that the G-chord can be played in 2 different ways. I immediately focused on doing this the alternate way, by using the pinky for the high E-string and thus giving my index finger room to do whatever comes next. That allows for much smoother transitions to, let's say, the C-chord (which is a b*tch for my meaty pinky).

On the interwebs, there are several folks who focus on D-C-G transitions, involving an alternate C#9 chord, and leaving the index finger planted during all D-C-G transitions.

Is it advisable to try those alternative chords, or should I focus on learning it the hard way first before drifting into unknown territory?

Rephrased, is it possible, or common, JUST to use the easy route later on in the guitar playing life, or not?