One thing that is still open after anders_CPH’s answer:

How long did you give it before you decided it was working?

quinn_sf said:

One practical note: write down what you did and when, before you need it.

Pushing back on quinn_sf here. I think the framing smuggles in the conclusion. Ask it the other way round and the obvious answer reverses, which usually means the question is doing the work.

quinn_sf said:

One practical note: write down what you did and when, before you need it.

True, and it depends on a baseline nobody has stated. Without knowing where someone started, the same number can be an excellent result or a disappointing one.

quinn_sf said:

One practical note: write down what you did and when, before you need it.

Bookmarking. The distinction being drawn above is the one nobody else makes.

OP back with an update, since a thread like this is useless without one.

Update — I was wrong in the opening post, specifically about the direction. Correcting it here rather than editing it away.