“Being wrong might hurt you a bit, but being slow will kill you.” – Jeff Bezos

I know that I can work quickly and well. I’ve done it before, and I’m always proud when I produce good work quickly. However I sometimes lose momentum and don’t work as quickly as I’d like. This post is what I find myself thinking about when I realise that I’m working too slowly.

Can good work be done fast?

Yes. Look at what has been done before.

Why does being fast matter?

• Speed matters: Why working quickly is more important than it seems

• Excellence is a habit but so is failure

That’s great, but how does one work quickly?

The first and hardest step is starting. To finish the work you have to start the work, so start right now. The second step is “starting” consistently, every day. You need to work “a little but often” as one of my teachers used to say. Then you start to get better because you’re putting in the practice, and then you start to see the results. Once you see the results you feel great, and you want to become even better, so you start to identify ways of improving how you work. You tweak your routine, your practice, and then you get faster. And once you consistently work fast great things start to happen. You can execute on your ideas, your feedback loops get shorter and you can get more done.