Today, I set up a fixture in the dining room and it took some 5 hours from start to finish. Not even really sure where all the time goes it just sloops away. Doing it with my friend who is a builder with some electrical experience. She's giving me a good rate but it's going to add up to do the whole house.
Without knowing what you were dealing with, it's hard to say if that's a typical time.
Some stuff is quick and easy, some stuff seems like it should be quick and easy until you open something up and realize something was done incorrectly or unsafely.
Depending on the fixture and location (say adding a heavy fixture to a ceiling box in a pre-1970's house), it could take much longer as code didn't require as robust mounting in the past.
I've put in numerous ceiling fans that required sheetrock work because there wasn't enough support in an older home (in the days before the fancy mounts you can insert via the box opening). Typical time was 2 days, because of mud work and repainting.
There's so many variables with this stuff it's best not to think you know how long something will take - you really never know what you're going to run into.
The house is down to studs and had old knob n tube that we already took out. So basically we were connecting two 20' spans through pre-existing paths with no teardown or finishing work on either side.
The fixture itself was done with a metal brace. It's okay if this is how long it takes I guess, I just don't know if this is typical or if we're working slow.
are you just working or are you being taught how to do these things as you go? 5 hours for what you did sounds like a lot for the former but about right for the latter
Mainly my friend is working and teaching with little pedagogical interludes.