in this short time?

[hly2004]

Hi, everytime:

The boss was going to have a breif meeting. He asked his clerk to write a report.
When the boss comes back. He finds his clerk has finished a 100 page report.

Could I say "in this short time, the clerk has done a lot of work"

More explanation:
I'm trying to find an idiom which means "in a short time" and delivers a sense of surprised feeling of the writer.

Best wishes.

 

[Joelline]

Colloquially, you might say that the clerk has done a lot of work in "no time flat."

Or, you could simply say that the clerk has done a lot of work in a very short time.

 

[Suehil]

You could say that but you might be more likely to say, 'the clerk has done an amazing amount of work in a very short time'
'Have you finished that already?' would express the surprise if you were talking to the clerk.

 

[hly2004]

Thank you both!