The timeouts are because of the huge influx in users. The way Lemmy currently connects to the server is horribly inefficient and the new 0.18 release should fix a lot of the issues we're seeing now. I think they said it would release soon, so hopefully we can hold out until then.
Mastodon had a similar story earlier this year when the Twitter Migration happened.
Maybe you already know, but a first place is usually your home and a second place is your work or school.
So either your unemployed or out of school, or you have a second place without realizing.