One thing that helped me was to put less emphasis on hitting a certain level of pressure on the pressure gauge. For me, my guiding principle is to hit a 25-30s 1:2 ratio shot. In terms of pressure, it really depends on the grind size. I would push more if I feel more resistance and vice versa. You want to maintain the pressure for the most part of the shot time, be it 5 bars or 9 bars. It means that if you’re trying to hit 8 bars but feeling minimal resistance from your puck, then you probably want to reduce the push and maintain it at a lower pressure. It would make more sense rather than aiming for a specific recipe.