How to distinguish between the meanings of "quickly", "soon" and "early" for 早く


At [What is 方 used for (when attached to a
た-verb)?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/6525), I wrote that the
早く there means "early":

> 早く行った方が良かったでしょう。  
>  It would have been better if (you) had gone early, would it not?

But I'm wondering whether that was correct. In the case of e.g.

> 早く行ったほうがいいよ。

How can you tell if it means "it'd be better if you go quickly", "it'd be
better if you go early" or "it'd be better if you go soon"?

If the answer is "by context", if possible please give examples of contexts
where one or the other is the case.




> 速く走れば早く着くよ。 You can arrive earlier if you run faster.

速い is clearly more related with speed than time , 早い ’s point is its position
on the time frame.

although 早く demands you some quickness, it is because speed is the way to
achieve earlier result.

