I use Emacs for almost everything. I used to use IDEs but became tired of waiting for all of the extra features to load. When I first began using Emacs I struggled for probably 6 months. Now I really can't do without it. I don't use it for email. I don't use it for the web. But I do use it for Twitter, I've written papers in it using org-mode and LateX and I'm currently writing my third book on it.
Once your fingers get used to all of the bizarre key-presses the editor just seems to fade into the background and you can just get on with your work.
Don't get discouraged. What seems like a huge thing now will be a tiny thing as it disappears in the rear-view mirror.