Hint: Cut Yourself Some Slack
You probably noticed this already, but in case you haven't, you can cut certain animations of your items and weapons short while reaping their benefits on single-player.

This is especially helpful if you're being shot up by several enemies and need the auto-injector to stay alive. For the auto-injector, once the screen tilts and you hear the re-assuring hiss, you can switch to another item or weapon.

For weapons, once the magazine total reads its maximum, you can select another weapon or item and your gun will be ready to go when you next select it. You can even start a reloading animation just before climbing a ladder and reap the benefits of the reload