Portia is a really good pull. I fell head over heels for it around this time last year. It's SUPER cozy & feel good. With nice pacing that guides you up through the ranks from beginner to master craftsman through a string of story quests. Loves the art design and soft, watercolor presentation. Soundtrack is ace too.For a cozy game I could suggest My Time At Portia. You come to this Island, where you inherit your father's workshop and pass your days building things, exploring caves, killing some monsters, mining and collecting various resources, talking to the other citizens, helping them out, etc...
Very relaxing game.
On a related note, if you're feeling like moneybags, you could always go for Dragon Quest Builders 2. Shares a lot of the same pros as Portia but also features a full-fledged rpg-lite story with tons of cute dialogue banter and questing. One of my surprise hits of last year.
Great tip on game-flow management. I need to remind myself of this often as well when playing these types of games. The urge to optimize is a decent impulse when thinking strategically, but taken to extremes it can quickly suck all the fun out of the game when you become OCD about it.- There's always Stardew Valley, as long as you focus on making the farm aesthetically cool instead of trying to relentlessly upgrade and make money. Be just productive enough. That's the fun way to play. The other way is just hectic and stressful. Just like in real life.
Along the lines of Stardew (since so many seem to already own it), there's also Graveyard Keeper. The best Stardew-like I've seen so far that has a twisted take that's more charmingly Burtonesque than outright dark. Really meaty campaign too.