Another book rec: https://pragprog.com/titles/bhcldev/small-sharp-software-tools/

Taskwarrior

The wiki holds your hand through it so it’s pretty easy.

Nobody said Arch yet? The wiki is very comprehensive so you can get by if you’re a newbie plus learn a lot.

If you want to work with the terminal as much as possible, it’s a decent choice. I only start X/my graphical environment if I need to do non-writing/non-coding activities.

You may need a day to configure wifi, Bluetooth, your de/wm of choice, etc., but if you use Ethernet & just install xfce you should be able to hit the ground running.