Question: Is there a way to automatically change the TODO keyword into PROGRESS when I clock in to an agenta item/task? If so, how? (OK, this isn't a big deal, I currently press `I t p` to achieve this, but it would be nice to have (and save 50% on keystrokes when including the Shift for `I`).)

Answer: 
You should set `org-clock-in-switch-to-state` to the intended state:

```
(setq org-clock-in-switch-to-state "PROGRESS")

```

> 
> Documentation: Set task to a special todo state while clocking it. The
>  value should be the state to which the entry should be switched.
> 
> 
>
Sacha Chua achieves this by doing the reverse, clocking-in when the state is changed to 'progress' (instead of changing state when clocking-in):
<https://sachachua.com/blog/2007/12/clocking-time-with-emacs-org/>

Hopefully that helps!