I personally play on 2 to 3 tables with a periodic 4th table when I know I'm about to be leaving another table once the blind gets around. I'd probably recommend doing that until you establish a solid win-rate and then feel free to add more tables as you can while maintaining your edge. The example I like to use is that you should reach periodic moments in your sessions where you will put in a min raise on the river with 3rd pair because (A) you know it's the best hand and (B) you know the bet will get called. How often do you or can you make those plays playing 9 tables or more? When you are trying to improve your game and move up, I think you want to avoid auto-pilot. Be careful about boredom tilt you may suffer as a consequence. To combat that, you should be taking lots of notes plus putting villains on ranges and hands.

For game selection at these stakes, I recommend looking for tables with a high percentage of players seeing the flop. I wouldn't avoid short stacks. I've found they are often the worst players and it's easy to apply pressure on them and get them to fold.

Good luck.