I will give you a hint
Keep your left thumb on the edge of the left side of the slider. Now gently click on the right-edge of the slider with your right-thumb. It will automatically shift quickly and open it![]()
That is nifty, very nifty.
And if you don't want to bother with sliding every few minutes, set your ipod to never auto-lock. Then you won't have to deal with it.