I guess I'm the minority who's Steam Deck is gathering dust. It is a nice device but it failed to get me to game more (which is what I wanted out of it), mainly because it's rather fiddly, in a similar way to a VR device. It takes effort to get me to pick it up, I have to make sure it's charged, I have to make sure my key bindings are configured correctly, etc.
What actually has worked far better for me is Xbox Game pass. It means I can easily give games a try without paying a lot of money upfront to buy them. Instead I can dip my toes in and see if a game takes my interest.
Just my 2 cents as someone that has gamed a lot in their childhood but largely stopped past their 20s.
I was annoyed by the key bindings/controllers at first as well. But once i found the section that shares community created controller mappings, i have only ran into one game that didn't have a controller config that worked well.
Steam Deck is in an odd place since it works worse for low end indie games than a Nintendo Switch (it lacks the "it just works" experience) and it's worse for high end games than an expensive gaming PC (which admittedly not everyone can afford.)
I like the idea of Steam Deck and there are many games it can handle that the Nintendo Switch cannot, but when Nintendo finally updates their hardware this advantage will be reduced.
Try some simple games that are easy to pick up and play and don't have complex controls. Hollow Knight, Dead Cells, Broforce. The battery lasts long with them as well.
What actually has worked far better for me is Xbox Game pass. It means I can easily give games a try without paying a lot of money upfront to buy them. Instead I can dip my toes in and see if a game takes my interest.
Just my 2 cents as someone that has gamed a lot in their childhood but largely stopped past their 20s.