speed just comes with doing it over and over and over

But also i’d rather see the bar clean and the pace steady than a barista working in a mess and a puddle to keep the times up.

everyone has a different way of sequencing. Depending on the time you work, it may be a different method for different flows of customers. I do 2-3 at a time, putting all the syrup in the cups and lining them up on the bar in order of what goes next and if its
a hot drink in line i put the pitcher of milk in front of the cup and just slide and press the espresso button snd prep the next cup and put it in line

Please for the love of god do not sacrifice speed for cleanliness. Being a cleaner worker will help you work on your consistency. Keeping a clean bar is a big challenge and will ultimately help you become faster because the muscle memory which you drill into yourself in order to stay clean on bar also becomes your best consistency.

keeping my bar clean and organized is really important to me. i figured out i really can’t work if there’s stuff in the way or my espresso machine is excessively dirty. my quality of drinks goes down because my environment is dirty.

besides that it’s just learning to sequence and a whole lot of muscle memory. also i like making the drinks as soon as i hear them and as quick as possible, steam the milk then queue the shots. if you get behind, line up your cups, put the syrup and cream in there if it’s a coffee, and hand your cold bar drinks down etc so you’re not holding back cold bar. then prepare your steaming pitchers and prepare to make the drinks.

honestly i don’t know if this is very helpful and i’m sure you’ll hear it a lot but practice! everyone does bar differently, everyone has ways to go faster that work for them that don’t work for others. you’ll eventually learn what works best for you and what’s the most efficient way to get your drinks out faster but it just takes time and practice!
I will share a tip that works for me though in case it does help you! i usually try to make at least 2 drinks at a time which i know is what they teach you but i find their method of drink sequencing doesn’t work for me lol. so usually as i make the first drink i start to prep my next couple whether that’s pumping the syrups or pouring the milk into the pitcher or whatever it may be i just try to at least have them prepped! i hope that helps and good luck i’m sure you’ll be your fastest in no time!