Are you playing bedrock or Java? How much do you know of the core mechanics, such as Efficiency, different tools, or Beacons? The game does not make it clear, but you need to switch tools to mine different blocks, or mining them will take forever.

Generally, in Survival, you need an Efficiency V diamond pickaxe with a Haste II beacon to “insta-mine” stone, but a mere Efficiency III diamond shovel will do the same for gravel and dirt. That said, any levels in efficiency will greatly speed things up.

It can be a fun challenge to search for diamonds and lapis to use the enchanting table (though spending hours accumulating resources like bookshelves just to suffer from bad RNG on enchantments can be frustrating). However, if you are just looking to get started building, don’t feel bad about popping into Creative to give yourself some Efficiency books, an anvil, or a beacon, unless you are interested in grinding out the whole game.