Try this: go into your user settings, change Type from Local to Subscribed and Sort type from Active to Hot (or New if you prefer that).
Then click on Communities on the top bar, switch the list from Local to All, and find communities you’re interested in, you can also search for specific names.
Avoid names ending in @beehaw.org if you see them, they defederated us so we can’t interact with them anymore.
When you find something you like, click on the community name to go to their page, on the right you’ll find the Subscribe button.
After you subscribed to enough communities, close lemmy and open it again, see if it’s better that way (it is for me).