I've been playing for a bit over a year. The action on my steel string is a wee bit high (played an expensive low action Gibson a few weeks ago, and it felt fantastic) and I've thick callouses which peel periodically because I also have my fingers in water a lot, grinding glass. Alcohol helps a little, more for post-dishwashing or house cleaning. Gardening helps, dries out and hardens the fingertips fast!

When I started I found practicing in short bursts worked best, fifteen, twenty minutes, stop for a half hour, pick it up again. Now I can play for hours.