PSA: workflow tweaks (2026 edition) [v1]

Long-time lurker, first-time poster. Maybe an unpopular opinion but here we go. For context, I am working with a pretty modest budget so high-end suggestions probably will not land.

Been thinking about this for a while and curious what the community thinks. I tried three different approaches and none of them felt quite right. Not sure if this is the right place to ask, mods please remove if it is not.

Posting this here because the relevant subreddit has gotten too noisy lately. This came up at a meetup recently and the room was split, so curious what the broader community thinks. Looking for honest feedback, not validation.