I’m going to go against the grain a bit and suggest studying for a certificate. Find one that looks interesting, and just prepare for it. You don’t necessarily have to get the certificate, but training for it will give you a good foundation for running your systems.

https://hackr.io/blog/best-linux-certifications

I have an off-site Synology that is also killing me trying to get it connected. Did you realize they don’t allow ssh on their VPN service?