When does a 'Visual Manifesto' become counterproductive on fast, low-budget doc shoots?

Hey everyone, I'm Amara, a documentary filmmaker working on a tight schedule and even tighter budget. I'm currently wrestling with a doc about local urban farming initiatives. I'm trying to elevate the look beyond the run-and-gun, 'capture everything' approach I've used on earlier projects. I’m shooting primarily on an FX3 with a couple of prime lenses, often just augmented by an amaran 150c if I can even get it set up. I’ve been reading a lot about 'Visual Manifestos' and the benefits of deeply pre-planning every aesthetic choice, mood board comparisons, specific shot lists for feeling, etc. It sounds amazing for a funded narrative film. But on these fast-paced shoots, where I'm often wearing multiple hats and reacting to unfolding events, I'm finding it hard to implement. I'm trying to apply some of these concepts, but sometimes it feels like it's eating into valuable shooting time, or I'm missing spontaneous, authentic moments trying to adhere to a pre-conceived idea. Has anyone here found a way to adapt this kind of rigorous visual planning for lower-budget, observational documentary work, or is there a point where it simply becomes impractical?