using arrows is very slow
I've long wanted that sorting control in the mini-list to be a dropdown. The fact that it takes so much clicking to change sort order means I usually just leave it set to the social production list and use it to find things to rush build.
If you haven't used the Colonies list in the Civilization Manager much, give it a try. It doesn't have as many sorting options as the mini-list, but all you have to do to pick is click a column heading, and click again to reverse the order.