“So little time” is true for everyone, so I have good news!
There are well established lists about what is good and bad to lase, you’re just one forum or google search away.
https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=materials%20safe%20to%20laser
The third link brings you to a thread that has this:
Which brings you to a list at atxhackerspace:
http://atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials
That link is all over the forum, it’s widely shared. (a quick search on it yields 48 discussions):
Each of these discussions talks about material safety.
If you have a specific question that is not answered, then you can search the forum for things like “can I engrave finished wood”:
https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=can%20i%20engrave%20finished%20wood
…and sure enough, 50+ threads that talk about it. Likewise search for “lasering food” and “anodized aluminum” and “leather”… it’s all out there, waiting for you to read up.
Many questions about laser safety aren’t cut-and-dried. There’s a lot of complexity there, and there’s no great shortcut to rolling up your sleeves and doing to the work of researching new materials as you want to try them. The good news is that the forum is a deep well of almost everything you might ask. You’re in the right place!