I've been curious for a long time to know how quickly people work, because I suspect that I take significantly longer to complete any particular task than most people!
At least, this is typically the case. No matter what it is, I seem to work much more slowly and carefully than others. Sometimes that's a good thing, but sometimes it's a waste of time.
As I get older, I have more and more time commitments and I find myself needing to work quicker and more efficiently. I suspect that I need to:
1) Work less carefully. I mean, still careful enough not to make mistakes that will set me back (so, having a good process), but less painstakingly careful on tasks that are not so important, IE: I probably obsess over, say, getting boards much flatter than needed, or making joints tighter and neater than necessary, and cleaning up surfaces that won't be seen, etc... And in general, I probably err way too much on the side of "being more careful than I need to."
2) Gain more confidence. This is tied to #1, but what I mean is gain more confidence to work quickly and "less excruciatingly careful" but without making mistakes. This is something that I think comes with practice and experience more than anything.
3) Having efficient processes, and "knowing how to break up tasks" and what step to do next. I spend, probably, a lot of time planning and thinking about the next step and having only a vague idea of what to do first/next/later and how to do it. I mean, things like efficiently laying out all of you pieces or performing some operations before others, or having particular methods for operations, as well as familiarity with making a particular item, can all really speed things up.
I don't know of any way to measure speed objectively, but I'm curious how long it would take everyone to complete a simple project, such as, say, making a small, very simple dovetailed box with a hinged lid and a bottom that is glued on, and just a single set of tails? I think I would spend at least 6-9 hours on such a project, possibly more. I have no idea if that is normal or excessive.
When I see true craftsmen work -- the rare few who actually make a living with their skills -- the thing that always stands out to me is just how quickly and efficiently they work. I'm always impressed that they work not just precisely, but precise and quick, and with a great deal of confidence that such speed requires. Some of it is having efficient processes, and a lot of it I would guess is experience -- knowing just how much material exactly to take off before checking, and having sufficient skill and confidence that you're not introducing error.
I'd like to learn to imitate this to at least some extent and learn to become more efficient myself; the goal being to become more efficient without sacrificing quality.
I've always been of the "Fast is slow. Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast" doctrine, or however it goes -- and this doctrine works quite well in regards to specific mechanical skills, such as employed in shooting or Martial Arts, for instance. But I do think that with crafts, it's a little more complicated / requires a little more conscious effort than that.
I'm curious to hear other's experiences, thoughts, and tips regarding this topic. How you work quickly and efficiently, but still accurately, how you determine what level of accuracy is enough, and about how long it takes you to do common tasks / what is a realistic expectation for an experienced woodworker working by hand. I'd really love to know how efficiently people working in the trade and making their living with their skills would take to complete such tasks, and would love to be able to observe them. You can learn a ton just from watching someone work.
Anyway, what got me thinking about all of this was partly how long it's taking me to make a few simple Paulownia boxes, and partly also watching this video of a Thai blacksmith making a machete (not exactly woodworking, but the skill and speed with which he works is impressive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM0Mlt4YgxM)
Similar examples can be found if you watch many Japanese sashimono-shi work. I'm just always amazed at how precisely, but quickly and confidently they work.
I don't expect to match the speed and precision of a craftsman who specializes in one thing and has countless years of experience doing it day in and day out, but I think we can certainly employ the 80/20 principle here and get "much of the way" towards that end, even as hobbiests.