How are paddle shifters supposed to work when you have am automatic CVT engine?

I looked everywhere on how to properly use them and there's nothing. I have a 2018 Honda Accord Sport by the way and yes it has the CVT.

I guess press the sport button and have fun changing your simulated video game gears. It is kinda useless on a cvt transmission since it has no gears but pulleys that expand and contract to give you better fuel economy.

You just select Sport Mode. Use the appropriate paddle when you would normally upshift or downshift a real manual/dual clutch transmission, and the car's computer will simulate shifting gears. If you screw up too badly, the computer will take over, and change the gear ratio itself.

Anonymous got it right: it's basically a video game, but you're actually driving a real car. The whole reason for the system is people see Ferraris and Aston Martins on TV, and go "I want that feature in my Ford Focus." The difference is that on a regular car, it's fake.

Even though a CVT transmission has numerous gear ratios, manufacturers program artificial or locked gears into them to simulate a traditional automatic transmission with defined gear ratios. When you use a vehicle's paddle shifters, it will select those programmed ratios.

How about trying them out? Put it in the sport shift mode and upshift at 4,000 rpm to get a feel for the power curve.
Downshift at 3,000 or lower until you get the fell for downshifting.
The PCM has a rev limiter program so you won't mess up the motor by downshifting at too high an rpm.

Just get a real manual transmission with clutch on the floor and learn to drive it. Rudiments learnable in a few hours, even with YouTube video tutorial. Find a big walmart pkg lot. Stop putzing around with fake shifting