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Other jobs to outsource at home: housekeeping, laundry, shopping, lawn and garden care.

At the office, consider the cost of hiring a temp vs. paying your salary to catch up on filing or other repetitive tasks that slow you down. This can free you to go after new clients, close deals, and other bigger items on your to-do list.

Multi-task: Generally, when people try to do two things at once, their productivity declines because they are not giving their full attention to the task at hand. However, sometimes you can use it to your advantage. If you belong to a bookclub, get the book on mp3, download it to your player and listen to it while you fold laundry or make your way through the grocery store aisles. Quiz your child on their spelling while you mop the floor or be the passenger in the car and use that time to update your hand-held scheduler.

Evaluate your priorities: Create three columns on one page with the following headers: midnight, 48-hours, this week. Now look at your list and determine which items must be done by midnight today and put them in that column. What needs to be done over the next two days and what can be done later this week? Moving your tasks around isn’t delaying the inevitable, but it helps you focus on what really needs to be done right now. And as you cross off that last item on today’s column, you can move on to the next 48-hours.

When it is all said and done, what do you want to be remembered for? Making time to enjoy your life or having the cleanest house in the neighbourhood? Let your values drive your priorities and you’ll soon find your to-do list getting shorter and your play time getting longer.