But don't rush it

Where have I heard that before!!!!!!

With bread (except Irish Soda Breads & similar) you must not rush. It takes time to develop the flavour and texture, so take your time and enjoy the experience. I believe that in one area of Italy it is the law that Pizza dough must rest for 7 hours before baking it.
A very good friend who is a professional chef once told me that making bread was a great background job in any kitchen .... you do a bit, leave it while you do something else, do a bit more and so on.
So when I start my yeast by mixing yeast granules in water, a little sugar (or honey or treacle or anything else that contains sugars) and a good squeeze of lemon juice (the vitamin C helps rejuvinate the yeast) I leave it for at least an hour. When I first mix the flour and the yeast mixture I leave it for half an hour to let the flour particles absorb the water and expand.
When you knead the dough, only do it for half a minute and leave it covered for half an hour. Then do that again and again until the dough is completely smoothe, not in the least sticky and can be stretched. It might take 10 or more kneading sessions, but who cares .....don't rush.
Dough should be allowed to rise at room temperature. Yes, you can certainly make it rise much faster by placing it in a warm place such as an airing cupboard, but that doesn''t help the flavour. So unless your kitchen is very cold, don't place it in a warmer environment. Indeed, I sometimes make my dough well in advance and leave it in the 'fridge until I need it.
When it's nice and smoothe leave it to rise until it has doubled in size, then "knock it back" ... a brief kneading to punch out all the gas that has made it double in size. Form it into whatever shape you want and leave to double in size again. Then it's ready to bake.