There is an art to ironing. I remember my mothere "teaching" me the proper way to iron a shirt when I was a teenager and she was sick of ironing my shirts for me.
It's about order--you HAVE to start with the yoke on the back. Then flip the shirt over and wedge the front button edge into the pointy side of the ironing board--and as you move along, keep wedging the shirt along the point of the board. You should be able to iron from shirt tail to armpit/shoulder corner--then lift the shirt off the board, iron the back using the yoke seam as the stopping point, then take the shirt off the iron again, and work the last front panel in reverse. Which means you start at the side seam and work your way to the button placket. You should be able to iron from top to bottom of the shirt in each pass of the iron.
When you get to obstacles, like ruffles, iron underneath them and don't worry about ironing them til the very end. After the body of the shirt is pressed, do the collar, the sleeves and finally any ornamentation--like the ruffles. Lay the ruffles flat on the board--don't worry about rewrinkling the shirt you just ironed. You can always go back and touch it up if it's a problem. You don't really move the iron with things like ruffles. You just lay the ruffle flat, and place the tip of the iron into the inside seam (where the ruffle meets the shirt). pick up the iron, and do the next section. I usually pull on the shirt itself to get the ruffle into place, you're less likely to burn your fingers with the steam that way.
Keep hangers ready and throw the shirt on a hanger right away and move on to the next shirt. I prefer to iron several shirts at once, because each one gets a little easier as you figure out your system.
