diff --git a/packages/contracts/.env.example b/packages/contracts/.env.example
index 543c35c2e..b638374a1 100644
--- a/packages/contracts/.env.example
+++ b/packages/contracts/.env.example
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ ETHERSCAN_KEY=<Etherscan-Api-Key>
 POLYGONSCAN_KEY=<Polygonscan-Api-Key>
 ARBISCAN_KEY=<Arbiscan-Api-Key>
 
-REPORT_GAS=<Report-Gas example: true>
 COINMARKETCAP_API_KEY=<Coinmarketcap-Api-Key>
 
 MAINNET_DAO_ENS_DOMAIN=<ENS-Domain example: dao.eth>
diff --git a/packages/contracts/README.md b/packages/contracts/README.md
index 6e057096b..c0047b5c5 100644
--- a/packages/contracts/README.md
+++ b/packages/contracts/README.md
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ npx solhint 'contracts/**/*.sol'
 npx solhint 'contracts/**/*.sol' --fix
 ```
 
+> Tests can be sped up if needed. See [the test performance optimization](#performance-optimizations) section for more info.
+
 ## Documentation
 
 You can find all documentation regarding how to use this protocol in [Aragon's Developer Portal here](https://devs.aragon.org).
@@ -177,6 +179,14 @@ describe('Legacy Test Example', function () {
 
 # Performance optimizations
 
+There are 3 ways to run tests:
+
+1. `yarn test` runs tests in sequence. Can take a while but is the default.
+
+2. `yarn test:parallel`, depending on your hardware can be significantly faster and is generally good for most cases. See the [hardhat docs](https://hardhat.org/hardhat-runner/docs/guides/test-contracts#running-tests-in-parallel) for more information about parallelized testing. Not suitable for gas reports (see below)
+
+3. `yarn test:gas-report` outputs a gas report. Cannot be run in parallel mode.
+
 For faster runs of your tests and scripts, consider skipping ts-node's type checking by setting the environment variable `TS_NODE_TRANSPILE_ONLY` to `1` in hardhat's environment. For more details see [the documentation](https://hardhat.org/guides/typescript.html#performance-optimizations).
 
 # Releases
diff --git a/packages/contracts/hardhat.config.ts b/packages/contracts/hardhat.config.ts
index 9c50c95e5..eb612bf32 100644
--- a/packages/contracts/hardhat.config.ts
+++ b/packages/contracts/hardhat.config.ts
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ const config: HardhatUserConfig = {
     exclude: ['test'],
   },
   mocha: {
-    timeout: 60000, // 60 seconds // increase the timeout for subdomain validation tests
+    timeout: 90_000, // 90 seconds // increase the timeout for subdomain validation tests
   },
 };
 
diff --git a/packages/contracts/package.json b/packages/contracts/package.json
index f1f1b4c47..4a3d4db25 100644
--- a/packages/contracts/package.json
+++ b/packages/contracts/package.json
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
     "typechain:osx": "ts-node scripts/generate-typechain-osx.ts",
     "typechain:osx-versions": "ts-node scripts/generate-typechain-osx-versions.ts",
     "typechain": "yarn typechain:osx && yarn typechain:osx-versions",
+    "test:parallel": "hardhat test --parallel",
     "test": "hardhat test",
+    "test:report-gas": "REPORT_GAS=true hardhat test",
     "build": "hardhat compile && yarn typechain",
     "build:npm": "rollup --config rollup.config.ts",
     "coverage": "hardhat coverage --solcoverjs ./.solcover.js",