Pandas snail trails

Hi,
I am reading the book for some time and I find it enlightning, profound and many other superlatives. But… the data operations with panads are such a pain for me. They are very dense and, often not straight-forward and when I apply my own data and try to obtain the same df outlook - it feels like I scrub my face to bare bones and sprinkle a little salt and some lemon juice on these open wounds. It just takes me ages to research step by step how it all works and how to get it done right. It is to be honest the only reason it takes me ages to move forward and actually start doing the fun stuff.
Surprisingly I assumed I am not only one, who has these kind of issues and I am wondering, if there is a simple solution how to deal with these panads snails.
Please share your ideas, opinions, helpful resources, etc…