Plasmid preps are to science what salt is to cooking. They’re so common that nobody notices, but nothing can be done without them. There is no mention of this step in any published paper, nobody mentions them in any activity report, no comments are made on how much time is actually spent on it.
But let’s face it: it takes time, as simple and as usual as it may be. A couple of days, spent here and there. It’s so well planned in your weekly agenda, it’s such a habit, that you don’t even think about it. It’s just routine. When you’ve done a plasmid prep a couple of times, there’s nothing new to learn about it. It’s like riding a bike, once you know how, you don’t even notice any more.