I’m in a similar situation. I’m a mechanical engineer that works as a design engineer but I want to get closer to the industrial design side. I’m lucky in that my job allows me to be right at that edge. I also work in a small company so my inclinations have been recognized and I do get to do a lot of new product development work and have been able to put forward conceptual work as well.
I’m not sure what your background, experience or current job is but I would try to get something that brings as close as you can to the conception of the product. No matter what the product is. That could give you some experience and very transferable skills.
I’ve only been sketching seriously for about 2 years. And even then seriously has really only been a couple hours a week. It took me a really long time to get over a hump. I’d say that it’s only in the last few months that sketching has started to be enjoyable. I don’t need to concentrate so much on the fundamentals that I can just lay down ideas on paper. I now see the value of sketching as a process. As you sketch you develop your ideas in a very different way than by talking, writing, thinking or CAD…
The reality is the first thousand sketches are going to suck, the quicker you can get through that, the quicker you’ll enjoy it. I sure wish I had done it sooner…
I’d suggest starting a project. Even if you don’t feel like your sketching skills are up to snuff, it’ll give you something to sketch. It’ll also allow you to touch all aspects of design. Check if there’s a makerspace close to where you are, that’ll give you access to some tools and even some pretty resourceful people.