Tor might be helpful.

Tor definitely. Fdroid for apps. Don't use anything related to google.

if you go to a protest or demonstration, leave your phone at home. that thing is a snitch

i recommend checking out the hated one on youtube, he shares some great tips

Don't use the internet.

Keep your identities separate.

That's a tracker nest if ever I saw one :P

I think I'm all good on those points, except for the encryption thing, I use veracrypt, but I'm not sure how good it actually is - any ideas?

(also thanks for the reply).

Forget about Windows.

Could a lazy and unmotivated person who looks and sounds like me migrate from windows easily?

Modern Linux distributions are very friendly. You don't need to be a hacker or programmer to install it.