Don't Discount Small Wins
I have a new espresso grinder and the dosing cup is big enough that you can’t pour it into the portafilter without spilling. I have 3D printers and a simple solution is to print a 54mm dosing funnel that sits on top of the portafilter and catches everything.
So I added it to my to do list (Find a 3D print file for a 54mm dosing funnel compatible with Breville Barista Express.) and was planning to do it later on when I was at my computer. Except earlier in the day I had wired up an agent to my todolist that automatically looks at each task and tries to do the task and move it to review… or adding clarifications/suggestions and move it to human needed.
The agent came back with four options, already vetted:
- Simbungu’s Dosing Funnel (Printables) — Most popular, attaches to 54mm portafilter, still allows built-in grinder trigger to work
- Starker3’s Dosing Funnel (Printables) — Easy to print friction fit design, works with 54mm portafilters with 3 tabs
- Dosing Funnel 54mm (Cults3D) — Sits perfectly on portafilter rim, firm push fit
- DogsBollocks Design (Thingiverse) — Free download, classic design
I spent about 30s looking at the options. I picked the second one. Printed it an hour and 17 minutes. Works perfectly.
Total time spent: two minutes to write the task, thirty seconds to pick an option, 77 minutes of unattended print time.
What Actually Happened Here
This wasn’t a massive time save. I would’ve found a file on my own in 15-20 minutes. But there’s a difference between “I could do this” and “this is now frictionless.”
The agent didn’t just find files — it filtered by compatibility, ranked by popularity and reviews, noted the differences between options. I went from “I should fix this dosing problem at some point” to “done” because the friction dropped to near zero.
That’s the useful part. Not replacing work I couldn’t do myself. Removing the small points of friction that makes simple tasks sit on the list for weeks.
The counter stays clean. The task is off the list. Small win.