Two simple cliches that have improved my life over the years:
There’s gotta be an easier way. This means that no matter what problem you’re trying to solve, you’ll probably find yourself deep in the weeds and overgrowth at some point. That’s when you have to stop and say “there’s gotta be an easier way to do this,” because there is. You just have to find it, and finding it means reevaluating what you’re doing and what you’ve done. What you’ve been doing is clearly not the easy way if you’re at this point. Which leads to the next one.
Make the computer do the work. That’s what they’re built for! Automating repetitive tasks, which they’ll do much faster and more accurately anyway. As OSes and software grow and advance, more automation is built in. Learn them and take advantage of them. If you’re doing things manually all the time, you’re doing it wrong.