How do I keep my coffee station from getting covered in grounds?
Most of the mess is static-driven grind spray and knock-box splash. RDT on the beans, a dosing funnel on the basket and a bar mat under the machine solve almost all of it in about a minute a day.
Diagnose where the mess actually comes from before buying anything. Fine grounds sprayed across the counter come from static in the grinder chute, and a drop or two of water on the beans before grinding, RDT, removes most of it. Grounds around the portafilter come from stirring or dosing without a funnel. Coffee spots on the wall behind the machine come from the knock box or from a bottomless portafilter spraying during a channeled shot.
The three cheap items that fix most of it: a dosing funnel that matches your basket size, which gives you a wall to stir against and stops grounds flying while you do WDT; a rubber bar mat under the machine and grinder, which catches drips and grounds and goes straight in the sink; and a small dish or tray that lives beside the machine to hold the tamper and WDT tool so wet, coffee-covered things are not sitting on the counter.
Build a thirty second end-of-session routine rather than a weekly deep clean. Knock the puck out, wipe the basket with a cloth, purge the group for a second or two to flush the screen, wipe the steam wand and purge it immediately after steaming, and wipe the drip tray rim. Doing that every time means you almost never face dried milk or caked coffee oil, which are the two things that actually take effort.
Two specific mess sources worth naming. Milk is the worst offender because it dries hard and fast; wiping the wand within seconds of steaming, while it is still hot, takes a moment, and a wand left for an hour takes a soak. And the drip tray fills faster than people expect, especially with flushing and backflushing, so empty it on a schedule rather than when it overflows onto the counter.
Finally, keep the counter behind the machine clear. A machine pushed back against a wall with a splash zone of paper towels, jars and mugs behind it makes cleaning a chore, and a chore you skip. Six inches of empty, wipeable surface behind and beside the machine is the single most useful piece of counter you own.