Ideally I think taking flying lessons and studying between flights is the best way. Rote memorization will not be as good as memorization assisted by realization from flying lessons, even if it's partial or incomplete. I would not try and imagine how ifr works ahead of time because it will be inaccurate and you could expect things to happen which do not, while things you did not think of may happen. If you can't take flying lessons before going for your written, then get a couple of ifr flying videos from King, ASA or Sportys. I watched videos, studied, and took lessons to reinforce my understanding.

Another thing, sit near a large airport in your Bentley or Caddy and hear the center and tower talk to pilots if you can. That will help you to visualize what is going on in the ifr system. Airline flying is all ifr flying.