Getting Better at writing shorter songs

Like many other songwriters, I think I have my favorite song forms that tend to lurk around in the background of my psyche during the songwriting process. For me, in particular, the one I use the most probably can be thought of this way:

(INTRO)
VERSE 1
VERSE 2
REFRAIN
VERSE 3
BRIDGE
REFRAIN

which is a variant on what Sheila Davis calls 'Verse/Chorus/Bridge' except with 2 verses before the initial chorus or refrain. I've noticed that one of my major role models, the Indigo Girls, also tends to use this form a lot, and when I cover some of their songs which are like this ("Galileo", "Least Complicated", "The Wood Song", "World Falls") I find that a variety of techniques that need to be employed for making the song seem too long: sustaining and building energy, providing contrast in the bridge, bringing in different harmony parts and changing the harmonic background rhythm.

This formal archetype tends to produce songs that are in the 4 - 5 minute range and lately I have been looking to write shorter songs for impact and brevity, so I decided to go back and analyze "Getting Better" by The Beatles which has a form like this:

INTRO MOTIF (distinct rhythm pattern + octaves)
VERSE 1
REFRAIN
VERSE 2
REFRAIN
REFRAIN-CHORUS
BRIDGE > VERSE 3 (half verse)
REFRAIN
REFRAIN-CHORUS (repeat 1st chorus line at end)
OUTRO (repeating rhythm pattern of INTRO)

and all this in 2:40 give or take. The REFRAIN and REFRAIN-CHORUS use essentially the same chords and harmonic rhythm but the CHORUS part adds a true CHORUS on the very 1st line.

This is a pretty neat form with lots of subtle tricks (the end of the 1st refrain contains a few measures with the hand claps that foreshadow that great moment before the BRIDGE where the Sitar comes in).