My played is at 8 days . . . I’m level 36 . . .
I seem to be doing something rather inefficient.
Is it that I focus on quests rather than dungeons?
Overly focused on things that are yellow or orange?
I sense I should be much higher with this much play time.
I started since launch. Still 33. I feel I am a tard.
That mindset is exactly what you’re doing wrong. Relax, stop hitting /played , and enjoy playing the game, you know, like games are for.
my played is 6 days at level 52. its considered slow. just stick to quests in your level range. i dont know what you were doing for 5 of those days played…
So… you’re telling me you’ve played an average of 10 hours a day? everyday? since release?
You’ll have a much easier time hitting things that are even 1 level below you instead of the same level or 1 higher.
Doing quests that are slightly below you is more time efficient.
Are you having fun ? If so then you are doing it right 
Let me ask you 1 simple question, are you having fun? If the answer is yes, you have done nothing wrong. Just keep doing what you’re doing.
Either do dungeons or find a good spot to grind.
I’ve played several hours each of all but two or three nights since launch, and I’m “only” 28. I’m not shooting for maximum efficiency, just enjoying my journey through the game.
I’m having the most fun I’ve had in years with World of Warcraft.
as said already, green and yellow quests nearing to turning green are more effective questing then orange and just-turned-yellow. Bounce a bit from zone to zone in range of your level and do a handful of quests in each to help spread things apart and make it easier on the whole to hit things 
Other then that, just play at your own pace and enjoy yourself.
I’ve got a guy in guild with me who leveled two character to 45 before I hit 43, and another handfull who are rounding 60. There’s also people who are mid-ranged or even lower then I am and they started much earlier on then I did (dang you, queues!)
I play only weekdays, starting from 4 hour queue with 1.5 hour gaming, to now 1 hour queue with 3 hour gaming. No rush at all.
You probably aren’t grinding enough.
This is a key bit of advice especially for those who may not have played this old version … vanilla’s questing progression was rough, at times very rough, with level gaps in pretty much every zone’s quest set and forces you to zone-bounce if you want to quest more than dunegon or grind.
The only people who rush to 60 are those for whom lolworldfirsts matter and who think “the game begins at level cap” … in ‘retail’ that’s true, in ‘classic’ not so much.
Part of what I love about Classic is the quality of the journey to 60.
It is a game that is fun and fulfilling at all levels, not just max.
I have a couple of characters around 30 and I’m not worried about my played time. I’m just happy to play! It feels it’s worth spending my time in this game again.
what if my answer is no? but i set a goal to push for? currently 6 levels away from said goal i’m nearing 34
Kill everything you see on your way to quest objectives and you’ll level more quickly.
For myself, I’m just going to enjoy the ride.
8 days to 36 is very slow. I wouldn’t worry about it.
Then in that case you’d have several options on the table depending on what resources you have available.
If you have reliable, and competant, friends, you can churn out dungeons like no tomorrow to try and reach your goal. If you don’t, find some green, squishy mobs that don’t damage you much, but are dense enough to have plenty, and pretend they are trying to make bacon illegal.
Questing is also an option, but yellow and orange quests are going to be slower than green ones or just grinding green mobs.
What he did wrong was not roll a mage. Calm down, we all know mages have strong early game advantages.