How can I speed up?

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So I am about to do my honours year at uni (well, assuming I've passed the last module) and my grade for the core studies was one grade down from the year prior. I know why my grade dropped, but among the myriad of reasons, I'm really slow at producing anything. Something that would take somebody a week to do, I end up taking a fortnight to do. Its not like I'm that busy and even when I really focus on it, I still struggle to meet deadlines while my peers seem to have their work completed. Skillwise, I'm ok, but I'd be a lot better if I were faster.

Even when I try to sacrifice quality for quantity, it doesn't get done. In fact, a lot of projects I work on don't get finished, no matter how interested I am in the project. I also find that I have very low morale and motivation, especially when I'm stressed out.

I don't want this to get in the way of my studies. I know that If I was faster at work without sacrificing quality, then I would have a better hold on things, though I don't expect it to make everything better. I'd just like to be more productive.

Maybe break down projects into separate tasks and give yourself a time limit for each task?

I do that and it does help to at least keep me a bit more organized, but it doesn't actually speed up my productivity. I'm still as slow at work as ever, . I guess if I weren't as distracted, I'd get more done. So, maybe instead of just breaking up the tasks, I should try to structure my working hours better.

I guess I could try working for 20-30 minutes straight at a time and put 5-10 minute breaks in between were I get away from the work. That way, I can reduce my procrastination. It won't make me faster, per say, but it might free me some more space in my day.

So, cheers! You inadvertently given me a possible solution.

I have the same problem. There can be many causes. One of the main ones for me is overinclusion. I create more work than necessary for myself, and very often overcomplicate things. One skill I'm working on atm is learning to pick out the essentials better, that is, those key tasks which will give the greatest results for a given amount of time & effort.

Another thing is very clearly defining the task and just working on that and nothing else for the work session ahead. Don't do anything impulsively.

Reading the psychology literature, (particularly meta-analyses and reviews) on executive functions and contientiousness has helped enormously.