My island has been rank 10 for a couple of weeks. I visit my island every day. I take care of my animals and my crops myself. I need a ton of cowries to get the various things you can buy with them. I don't try to optimize my workshop because that isn't the point. Heck, my workshop hasn't done a thing all last week othet than one day for the challenge log.

No reason to rush everything to try to get it done ASAP. That's the problem people have. They try to get anything and everything done as soon as conceivably possible, then complain they ran out of things to do. I'm taking it slow, like it's designed. I'll get all the stuff, I'm just not in a rush to do it.