Is there a way to change the properties without having to navigate into and stop wasting time creating peaks? I am going to change the audio stream anyway.
Assuming you're importing separate vid & audio streams or files, don't have an audio file with the same name as the video.
otherwise go to the media section in the upper right window, select the audio, & replace or remove the media -- this can be done right away, stopping the peak drawing process.
Is there a way to change the properties without having to navigate into
Nope.
stop wasting time creating peaks?
As soon as you've navigated into an item, you can right-click the audio stream on the timeline and choose Cancel Building Peaks. Or just Clear Audio if you don't want the one that's there. Or select the audio stream and hit Delete.
If you are importing elementary streams with the same name (and want to stop it completely), then Options / Preferences -- uncheck "Automatically link similar audio and video files"