Yep, don't use bitcoin-qt. Use electrum, it "syncs" in about 10 seconds because it doesn't download the blockchain. Do you really need to download the whole blockchain? If so, as you are finding out, you are getting ready for a world of pain unless you have an ultra-fast internet connection. and don't forget the blockchain size is increasingly massively every month so if you have to re-download it, which seems to happen frequently, the time to download will increase exponentially.

Good luck!