How exactly do we play in higher level?

By "higher level" I means something along the line of being faster, get to contents in shorter amount of time, farm larger amount of resources, etc.

I had been palying POE since 2013 but I had been very casual about it all along, since I got all the time in the world to play it back them. So I am very slow, usually it takes me like 2+ weeks to get to the same level where streamer/content creators able to do in just 1 day, despite playing 10+ hours a day.

I admit that there are simple too much distractions, too much contents, and doing every one of them just seems highly inefficient. Everyone are rolling in divines, while I was like just had 20 div after 2 weeks...

I know game is just for entertainment, but I'd be lying if I say I don't want some efficiency of those streamers doing, at least 1/4 of it will be great already.

Is there resources, videos, etc that talk about such aspect, the pacing of gameplay especially in higher level contents.

I know about the game contents, how to get there, but I am just SLOW... =(

There are a lot of aspects. What is it that you are trying to achieve exactly? Does it relate to speed of running the campaign?

Some of these players are so knowledgeable, skilled, and play so much, that the result is not attainable by regular players, or even players who play a lot like me, but don't have the skill and optimization.

Keep in mind, even with what you are saying, some of these players are probably playing 16 hours a day, and very optimised.

Also in trade league, it is hard to judge by currency, because you don't know exactly what is going on behind the scenes, and it's another aspect that can be highly optimised.

Personally, I haven't come across anyone who is a great teacher, a lot of the players are quite focused on playing themselves, as you would expect. Some of them do offer a lot of help and advice, and share their tecniques, but I wouldn't describe any i've seen as good teachers, relative to how good they are at the game. Which is the case in many endeavors. There is a lot of streamed footage available, particularly for speedrunning the campaign. It sounds like you have enough knowledge to decipher what is going on. https://www.speedrun.com/poe is an example. Streamers also have a lot avaiable via streaming platforms. Being able to replicate that speed is another thing entirely, and only one aspect of the many you are mentioning. About amassing currency early in the league.

These players also practice a lot, so they are prepared at the start of the league.

Even if you are playing more time to get to that point, with a shifting economy and inflation, hours played do not always translate as equal.

If you are more specific, someone might be able to give you some pointers, but really, they majority of players can not keep up with this, and probably there are many players that are having trouble keeping up with you.

The answer to your question likely encompasses many aspect, including, build selection and familiarity, economic interaction, raw skill, game knowledge, practice and preparation, understanding of the incoming league, realtime decision making and efficient use of resources, risk evaluation and mitigation, luck and variance, use of available tool and macros, crafting knowledge, help form other players particularly in non SSF modes, farming and inventory management, gameplay selection and strategy and many other things. As I'm sure you are aware, with how long you have played. A lot of these things have gotten very optimized.

Within that, you probably need to focus on what you can improve the most, with any restrictions that you have, and focus on what you can improve. It's good to see what these players are doing, to know what is available, but sometimes it is very hard to replicate. For example vendor walking, something that is not that easy to do, and doesn't really provide a huge benefit. Focusing on learning that is probably not going to be that benifical to me, as say if I was in trade league, actually utilizing setting up efficient realtime trade alerts, or having my build optimized before the league start, which I never do. One could potentially save me hours on the first few days, while the other might save a couple of minutes.

So focusing on the thing that is going to save your the most time, is probably the most important, until you get to the point, where you can no longer optimise, without improving the thing that is a roadblock. There's only so much you can do at one time. If you are pretty good on the campaign, or don't think you can improve much, look at the point where you are slowing down relatively. Maybe there is some point in maps where you start slowing down, and something in your control can be improved at that point.

By the way, what I've noticed as being the main difference in progression between faster player and myself, is the amount of time spent not directly in combat progressing. This encompasses many things, like making changes to the build, picking up relatively unhelpful items, testing in hideout, trading for small benefits, inventory management, time spent at vendors, time idle in hideout, pedantically optimizing build, checking information outside of the game, and just generally investigating or enjoying aspect of the game, that aren't conducive to progressing quickly. Also getting overly focused on tasks or self made challenges, that aren't important for optimizing currency or level progression. An example might be, my sulphite is full, I don't want to waste it, but going into delve is not as important as progressing atlas. Or, I have a cool blueprint or sanctum that has dropped, which I run, but it is not the most optimal thing to be doing and should be skipped in SSF or sold in trade league. It's important to keep the game fun too. If you make it completely about efficiency and competitiveness, you might find that you are able to bridge the gap, but find the game less enjoyable.