The thing with land is, it is not going anywhere, so I will take my time and build out my plots slowly.
I bought my land late, and I've gradually added more , I'm at my limit for now with 26 plots but only 25% operational
I think I have followed a pattern similar to most ( albeit with much less land than many), and that is, an initial flurry of activity when I used my Runi, best "land cards" and ready DEC to get going. This still left a lot of idle land, but from here on in, its going to be one staked monster at a time as resources allow.
I cannot imagine how much effort and brain power managing so much land would take, but I am sure it is satisfying to watch the enterprise develop.
I do miss my Runi in battles though :-)
I think if you really want to optimize land, it will take a lot of time and effort. However, due to my personal life, I am a 80-20 guy. 80% solution is good enough for me. I do not have the time or patience to get to a 100% or even a 90% solution :)