@tagomago Thanks Tagomago!
I use non-destructive workflows for most of what I do in Krita. It definitely has more non-destructive functions than gimp currently does.
The specifics depend on what you're trying to do, e.g. cutting out, transforming, colour correcting etc. But as a general rule look at layer masks like transparency, filter and transform masks.
These apply non-destructive changes directly to layers. Transform masks can get laggy though, but are still very useful.