When I have a game that hasn't "completed" I almost always run it on 1/2 speed all the time, even between harvests. But I'm also slower now at population growths...

I sometimes even try for Science 2 before Farming 2, just to get more tech points per research faster. It is a long wait before Science 3 and oh so tempting to get the other tech items first.

Though sometimes if I'm really running into a food crises by the time I have enough points for Farming 2 (usually after Science 2) I'll switch just this one time to 2X speed to wait only 1/2 hour my time for the harvest to come in, but mushroom hunt even then.