No matter how long or hard the task ahead, if you break it down into a series of smaller steps (rather than looking at the entire chunk), it will go much easier and NEVER watch the clock while at work, the day lasts forever.

Draw a line to divide your to do list for the day and put all of the at home items under a column marked "IN" and all of the out of the home items under a column marked "OUT". It saves you reading the whole list all the time. You can further categorize by dividing "IN" into "at desk" and "other" or "OUT" into "ERRANDS" and "THINGS TO BUY".

If you have school age children, you know how time consuming and stressful mornings can be trying to get everyone ready for school. What I have found to work is to plan ahead. Assuming the children are having cereal for breakfast, I'll put bowls, spoons, and the choices of cereal on the table. For each child I'll have their outfits including underwear, socks, and shoes ready for them on the couch. They know the routine now and it makes mornings so much nicer.