Paper dries my acrylics even faster, so why do I keep going back?

Acrylics already dry fast enough to make me sweat, but painting on paper cranks that up to another level. The surface pulls moisture out of the paint so quickly that my usual blending window basically disappears.

For a long time I treated paper as throwback sketchbook territory, something I'd slap color onto before "the real painting" on canvas. But lately I've been noticing that the way paper eats the moisture actually forces me to commit to my color mixes and values up front. I have to premix enough paint the first time because there is zero room to fuss. When I go back to canvas afterward, my layering feels more confident and my glazes land closer to where I want them on the first pass.

I started adding a thin layer of matte medium to some heavier weight paper and that slows the absorption just enough to let me push a soft edge here and there without losing that snap decision energy.

Does anyone else use paper on purpose as part of their process, not just for warmups? And if so, have you found ways to control how fast it drinks the paint, or do you lean into that speed?