When Zen monks are completing a task, why are they doing it very quickly? Recently, I watched a documentary about zen philosophy and what it is like to be zen monk on a daily basis and I noticed that in the documentary the zen monks always looked like they were in a hurry. For example, in the documentary we see the monks "rushing" to sleep. Another instance in the documentary is when one monk is waking up the other monks, we see that he is running. 

The question is: is there a reason behind the speed?  

Thanks
Another approach to Zen by Thich Nhat Hanh is that everything is done with a connection to the breath and things slow down. You may not complete as much but increase the awareness of each moment.

Not sure why other Zen practitioners hurry. The tea ceremony is done precisely. If you practice it over and over again perhaps there is no hesitaion and it appears faster. When the personal self is erased there is only pure action.. 

Here is a Zen story that advocates less hurry.
http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Zen_Humor.html


  Other sayings from Linji or attributed to him: “What is the frantic
  hurry to deck yourselves in a lion's skin when all the while you are
  yapping like wild foxes? A real man has no need to give himself the
  airs of a real man!”


Now I just discovered something about the documentary 


  This Documentary is all about rinzai zen and Zen in common.  It will
  give you a bit of insight how Zen is lived in a strict monastery order
  and how it influenced so many things.


Soto is the form of Shunryu Suzuki and even Dogen and one I am more familiar with. This tends to be different in application than Rinzai Zen in a very strict monastery. I only watched first 7 minutes where walking is quite ordinary. Perhaps someone who can watch the 2 hour documentary will share further insights.