Put pan on stove, then oil in pan.
Turn on heat to desired setting.
Immediately, or after it has heated up, add your food. Place it going away from you so that it won’t splash you with hot oil. You might want to use an oven mitt and long tongs to place things from a distance.
As soon as food is in the pan, cover it with a lid or a screen. If you use a screen, cover it with a layer of paper towels because the oil will spurt through it.
When you need to look at the food, use an oven mitt in one hand to lift the lid slightly, and long tongs in the over hand if you need to poke at the food.
If you need to take the lid fully off to check your food or flip it over, first turn the stove down or off all the way. Move the pan to a not hot burner (or off the stove) and let it cool down. After 3-4 minutes it should have cooled enough that the oil is no long boiling/spurting everywhere when you take the lid off.
Once you have checked/flipped your food, put the cover back on, move it back to the hot burner, and turn the stove back on to finish cooking.
When cooking is done, repeat the above process of turning off the stove, removing the pan from the hot burner, and waiting at least 3 minutes for it to cool down. At that point the oil and food are still hot enough to burn you, but they probably won’t be spurting everywhere when you take off the cover.
If you’re cooking meat, remember to use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature. Even if the outside is done, the inside could still be raw.