I can empathize with the difficulty of using MFA and especially frustratingly difficult (and browser-agent-biased) CAPTCHAs.

A lot of the other commenters have of course pointed out the importance of MFA to help establish the user's identity more reliably.

Thankfully, many platforms may only require you to complete this every so often. For example, Google seems to keep you authenticated if you check "remember me" and may require you to re-enter your password on occasion, but you don't need to re-enter an OTP code unless you're signing in on a new device or you fully signed out.

Unless a more accessible and equally secure alternative authentication method gains traction, I think there are some things that both platforms and struggling users can do.

First, more platforms need to support standard MFA with a TOTP secret shared with the user (either a long random string or a QR code to scan). Authenticating the user by sending a SMS text or an email takes you out of the flow. Giving the TOTP secret to the user allows them to choose the technology most appropriate for them to balance their security with their preferences/needs.

As an end user, I use a password manager application (in my case, Bitwarden). Many password managers let you paste in the TOTP secret along with the username/password you save for the website/app. Not only will they auto-fill the username/password fields, but after you submit, the extension automatically copies the TOTP code to your clipboard, letting you quickly "paste and enter" and return to your flow.

This has saved me a lot of time and effort, and I still feel relatively secure (not more or less secure about having my computer lost/stolen versus my phone).

I encourage everyone to use MFA on important accounts, and most especially your email address. Remember, access to your inbox (and maybe knowing your first pet's name) is all someone needs to reset the password to many of your other platform accounts.

I was happy to see that a while back, iOS added a feature that will show a recently received OTP code by SMS in the keyboard autocomplete suggestions when you're focused on a text field in a browser.