I have automated some things both at work and at home. Sometimes the "time saved doing the thing vs time spent setting it up" calculation looks very shaky, but

I have automated some things both at work and at home. Sometimes the "time saved doing the thing vs time spent setting it up" calculation looks very shaky, but I persist because when I'm puzzling out how to automate something I'm learning and adding to my skillset that may be useful for the next thing (and is therefore inherently interesting, may lead to greater efficiencies, etc). If I'm just spinning my wheels clicking arbitrary buttons I'm not really learning anything (and I guess in stark economic terms, not adding value to myself as an employee). DISCLAIMER: I'm not in such a high-paid position that spending an hour or two down a rabbit hole feels like I'm wasting serious time/money.