How to shorten the waiting time in the queues?
Unless you submit to the Newbie Queue, your wait time may stretch into several weeks for your story to rise into 'In Review.' This is because stories go up in the order that they are submitted.
In order to minimize wait times, do your best to critique in the weeks leading up to your piece being 'In Review". This will open up more story slots in the queues, and stories will be bumped up, coming up for review faster. 
This is also why it is beneficial to critique in the same queue you submit to—you will be directly affecting the wait times in that queue.
The public queues can change based on how many critiques happen in each queue each week. The more critiques a queue gets one week, the more story slots will open the following week. If there is a significant drop in critiques, less story slots will be available for the following week, creating a longer wait for some. If everyone does their part by critiquing, it benefits everyone through shorter wait times.
Also, active critiquers always get the most critiques when their work comes up for review. So to get lots of great feedback, give a little critique karma first!