Work Speed (and Accuracy) - Need Advice

Wanted to ask everyone what their average work speed is, I feel like when I do any work, I end up doing like 90-95% of it very quickly or quickly and then the last 5-10% tends to take a bit longer either to decipher what someone wrote or it requires more discussion. I find it frustrating when I’m on a roll and then I have to wait around for further instructions to finish that last 5-10% as I lose momentum.
 

On the flip side, when the work requires a lot of precision and detail (like modeling), I tend to work fairly quickly but end up getting asked for it very quickly even if it’s not a live deal. Regardless of the ask I get someone asking me for something to look at within 60-90min. Many time this is also like 90% done but obviously there may be mistakes that I need to check carefully to catch in the excel.
 

I know this topic will be hard to judge given that you all don’t watch me work or see what the turns I get look like, but I’m just curious if everyone experiences this or I’m exceptionally slow. I don’t really see the other analysts work but back when we were in the office they’d mention to me I was pretty fast (not in a joking manner) so unless they were flattering me, I assumed I was probably working at a good pace.

How did you all learn to do and check work quickly. I seem to be able to “do” the work quickly but then the checking process takes me longer. It could be an understanding of content issue but I come from a finance background and feel pretty solid on my technical understanding. I know checking and getting it right is just as important as doing it so really want to know how to improve. I don’t really get great advice from the associates / VPs I work with, almost none of them have been analysts and their advice is usually to print or PDF things, which I do but I still end up making small errors. I’m a second year analyst now so theres only one or two analysts above me (most people leave) and their advice is kinda similar. Is this an innate skill that I just lack?

 

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