So something that happened to me from time to time in the past is I would be going to sleep and I start dreaming not long after laying down to go to sleep.

Now it's not like I go from awake to a full on dream but it usually is me doing something I did during the day- sitting on the computer, sitting at work doing something, etc and I start to do that in a sort-of-dream state and I actually think I am doing it, I don't think it's a dream. When I realize i'm doing this thing in the dream-ish state and I'm not actually physically doing it I usually wake myself up

Recently though, i've thought about capitalizing on this to see if I can get this to a lucid dream. Each night, consciously and fully aware, I get a little further in the dream of me doing whatever I was doing but i've yet to be able to control the environment/dream.
Like what happened last night is I got into this state and the thing I was doing was sitting at my computer on some website. I thought I was actually doing it but once I became aware I was dreaming I was able to continue doing what I was doing until I tried to move my hand in the dream and to my surprise I did but the shock of me doing it woke me up.

Not sure what i'm getting at but is this normal? Is there a specific method this is or a specific thread regarding this sort of dreaming?

What are some ways I can go further in the dream while being aware and not wake up and also get to the point of being able to control it?