It is a lot to learn when you start monetizing. And yes, it takes time from your writing in the beginning. I suggest that you start with some affiliate program before slapping on adsense. It will be a way for you to learn about how ads work and where to place them and not make you a slave to "must get clicks on my ads"
I think most people start with amazon. Then you can have something more specific to your topic. I have muaythaistuff.com on my martial arts blog and
http://www.jbox.com/ on my blogs on Japan. There are so many affiliate programs, I am sure you can find suitable ones.