Feeds and speeds
This is true for generally all tool-bit-upon-steel work. You should
- cut long, continuous "chips" (strings, really) that come off like spaghetti, to the point where you actually have to intervene to break them, to keep them from rats-nesting around the drill.
- run quite cool, to where you can disengage the bit from the work and grab it with your fingers without fear, and it feels barely warm.
- move efficiently through the work
If anything else is happening, stop doing that RIGHT NOW.
Mainly, we are concerned with feeds and speeds. The rotating speed of the tool (e.g. drill bit) and the speed of movement into the material. The machine industry has exhaustive tables and formulas which serve as starting points, but it's also helpful to listen to what the tool is telling you. You are seeking the "sweet spot".
To be clear, one type of "wrong feed" is too little feed. Unfortunately with hand drills, there is no such thing as feed rate, and "feed force becomes a weak substitute. Being gentle/wimpy is the most common error.
That is one way to work-harden the surface of the steel inside the hole. This will make it more difficult to start up again, and requires decisive action to punch through it and get back into normal metal. This happens from poor cut rate, galling, or rarely heat, which is to say, ignoring the "stop doing that RIGHT NOW" advice above.
On a large bit diameter, the pressure required to hit the "sweet spot" may be impractical with a hand tool. In that case, drill a smaller hole of a size where it is practical. Then step up in increments. The hole also makes a good "pilot hole". It's hard to gauge feeds and speeds when overdrilling in small increments, but again you have it right if you have cool fast running with long chips.
Honestly, I'm a big fan of pilot holes simply because they are easier to position precisely, and they do make drilling easier - even a 1/8" hole on a 1/2" drill. Also, start with a bap from a center punch,and it's much easier to keep a 1/8" drill inside the dimple than a 1/2".
On lubricant, I am pretty slack about that if the cutting is going well. In the shop, cutting oil or GST are right at hand, but in the field on small holes, I'll use spit, or even nothing if I'm "dialed in" and being highly productive. Really, anything will do - motor oil, 3-in-1, a spray can of Liquid Wrench remember, we're not letting things get hot!
It goes without saying not to use Harbor Freight or other cheap Cheese drill bits. Again, whole industries are built on the premise that you can drill hundreds of holes with a single bit, so bit quality is no excuse.
One more thing: you might consider using a drill press, because that allows much higher pressure and much finer control, including direct control of feed. Don't buy one (and especially don't buy cheap Cheese, as people are wont to do for one-job tools). However check out a local maker space and see what it'll take to get some time on their competent drill press.