The whole point of the crafting system is the enjoyment of managing, planning, harvesting, modding, etc. It's not about the end product. Crafting in this game is like restoring a classic car. Sure, you could have a car in a fraction of the time by just buying one but it's not the same as personally investing the thought, time and effort.
I understand having limited time- anyone who works and has a home and/or family can sympathize (myself included) but that's why I'm ok with having a game like this take me years to complete. I got a 600+ hour playthrough of Skyrim- started launch day and didn't put down the game till early this year, and still didn't see everything in the game. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I am saying that to approach crafting, or any other aspect of this game, from the point of view of cutting corners and speeding things up would be to miss the point.
It's like saying, man, I want that iPad Pro but I don't have the bucks so I'm just going to gank one. Some people would be cool with that. To me it would be worthless because I didn't earn it.