If you stick with it you'll soon get the hang of it. The Command Line is never the friendliest of places to hang out but it certainly offers the most flexibility. I initially used to use VNC exclusively. Now I rarely start it at all.
In terms of learning, you're doing the right thing: know what you want to do and then find out how to do it. Reading endless instructions without any clear goals is never very productive. IMHO.
Ian.