What's your best time-saver?

I have four e-mail accounts and select which type of mail goes to each e-mail address. All friends and other personal e-mails go to one account, client and work-related e-mails go to my Peekaboo account, and e-mails that will never be urgent, like those mass mailing reminder e-mails, go to another account. It allows me to cut down the time it takes me to filter through messages on a daily basis and helps me to make sure I address the most important e-mail inboxes first. Ben Dolgoff, cofounder and COO of Peekaboo Mobile

I love CSAs [community supported agriculture services]. You can get them for produce, meat, and fish. Once a week you go and pick up a box at a drop station that’s full of food that can last you a few days. I even split them with folks if it’s too much for a week’s worth. Jeff Morin, general manager of City Feed and Supply, Jamaica Plain

Microsoft Outlook is what I use to keep my days organized and efficient. It contains my schedule of patient care days, research meetings, and deadlines. I have my Outlook calendar synched to my iPhone so I can keep track of appointments and meetings at all times. Since my husband also works in the same hospital, we both use Outlook to keep track of each other’s schedules. Lois Lee, staff attending physician in the Division of Emergency Medicine at Children’s Hospital

I have a tendency to make a ton of lists. My biggest time-saver in music, planning, and life in general is multi-tasking. I guess it comes from years of working in restaurants, and if you can get good at it, it’s magical. I’m never doing less than two things at a time, but if you’re not careful about staying on task it can backfire and you end up just going around in circles. . . . There are tons of lists on my desk, on my laptop, in my lyric notebook. It keeps my multi-tasking from turning into running around like a headless chicken. Nikki Dessingue of the band Stereo Telescope

I am great at cramming a million things into one day. It’s out of necessity from being a wife, mom of three, and a small business owner who also likes my personal time. I guess the main tip I have is to be prepared. When making homemade spaghetti and meatballs, I make three times what I need and freeze the other two portions in freezer bags. I also make a weekly menu of what’s for dinner each night before going to the grocery store, and in the beginning of the school year I buy 10 girl gifts and 10 boy gifts so I’m prepared for birthday parties. Megan Woods, owner, Olive Green Apparel

I actually used to be chronically late, but I went cold turkey and just started blatantly lying to myself by setting every clock I own 15 minutes fast. I am diabolical like that. I also bought a Keurig coffee maker and use that and grab a piece a fruit in the morning rather than stopping for the whole skim, nonfat, no whip, hazelnut, latte, frappe nonsense. It’s faster and greener. Brehon Garcia-Dale, Food and Wine Program Manager, Boston Center for Adult Education

I try to stick to only wearing and purchasing clothes of three colors: black, white, and red. It helps me save time when going out and buying clothes. And it helps me to decide what colors to get if a style comes in 20 options, knowing that whatever I purchase will “go’’ with other clothes in my closet. Susie G, fashion blogger for street style website CLICK/CLASH

One thing that I always tell my clients is the easiest way to be organized is having a place for everything, so when you walk in the front door in your foyer, have a place where you can put your mail and your keys and keep things organized that way. Even more important, moms these days are looking for everything to have a place of its own. Even little things like having an organized center when you walk in the front door, bins that all flow together. The flow of that first floor — a bin for mittens, coats, book bags, coats — keeps it all organized, but also looking really good. Julieann Covino, interior designer and founder of Jace Interiors

Time management, or the lack thereof, has been a major problem for me in the recent past, but what has been working lately is addressing stress, trusting that I can get it all done and that the world won’t end if I don’t, as well as taking deep breaths, and taking breaks. Nothing helps as much as an exercise break, especially a winter run by the Charles. There’s a quote about meditation, that on the days when you feel like you have no time to meditate, those are the days when you meditate an extra hour. I am incredibly more productive when I have regular moments of head clearing. Mali Sastri of the band Jaggery

Do less but do it right away. Use the very beginning of your day to knock out the two or three things you need to accomplish most. Get those priorities finished and it will matter less what distractions pop up in the remainder of your day. If you want to knock out a task that doesn’t absolutely require you to be online, sever your connection to the Internet. Turn off your laptop’s wireless, unplug your modem, do whatever it takes to remove the temptation to surf away from your work. Walter Cornelius, project manager at SurfMerchants Web development firm

[F]or regular computer usage I work a lot in Pro Tools and other audio/video programs, and the main time-saver for me is using all the keyboard and mouse shortcuts. This is huge in trying to get stuff done quickly and efficiently. Emeen Zarookian, composer and sound designer at Harmonix Music Systems

Organize or redesign the “jam up’’ space in your house. It might be the entryway, the bathroom, or even the kitchen. In bathrooms, separating the toilet area lets two people use the space at the same time for different functions. Two sinks is good, but short of that, a mirror and shelf away from the sink lets two people get ready at the same time. In a kitchen, keeping the dishes and dishwasher area really close to each other and away from the cooking and pots and utensil area lets one person cook while the other unloads the dishwasher or sets the table without tripping over each other. Katy Flammia, principal at THEREdesign

You don’t need [to buy] as many items as you think. Focus on high-quality separates that you can always rely on to wear in different ways. Each season take an inventory of your wardrobe and shed items that are super trendy, low quality, or generally unworn. Then set aside a bit of money to do a shopping spree to update what you have for the new season. Carrigan Denny-Brown, stylist and manager of Poor Little Rich Girl

The morning routine can be pretty hectic for working parents. I’m a mother of two. One time-saving tip is to assign a responsibility to each family member. Make sure each one knows what they’re responsible for. Some people wake up an hour before their kids to get all of their stuff done, read the papers, drink coffee, eat breakfast. Once kids get up they focus solely on the children. The second one is menu planning and grocery delivery. You go on the computer, you plan out all your menus and you instantly shop for your groceries online. Cindy Meltzer, community manager at Isis Parenting

Delegate and outsource as much as possible. It’s good to ask for help, from whoever is in your life, and it’s good to hire people if you have the resources. You don’t have to be an exceptionally wealthy person to hire a cleaning person or hire a dog walker for 10 bucks a shot or something like that. This means giving up some control sometimes. If I ask my husband to do X, that means it won’t be done the way I like it, but what’s most important, having it done the way I like it, or not having to do it? Susan Costello, certified life coach, licensed counselor

The best time-saving tip I can offer for when you’re planning a party is to give your guests detailed parking instructions in advance. If you fail to do this, 98 percent of them will end up calling the host as they are pulling up and have you come outside and direct them where to go, which is not only stressful for when you are trying to entertain people, but also causes you to lose lots of quality time with them as well. Joe Bermudez, DJ and host of Mass Movement Radio

Some things I do to make my day simpler: I buy a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts card and use it every day when I buy my coffee instead of using a debit card. I also make a list at night of what needs to be done each day, or for the week, and carry it in my wallet. I write what I need to do or buy at each store or place so when I go there I know what I need, don’t have to try and remember, and I won’t forget about something. Shannon M. Daly, personal shopper and professional organizer, founder Daly Consulting

I think my biggest tip for parents is to be very organized and to plan ahead. This way parents and children lose less time searching for items. Children should prepare for the next day in advance by having school items ready and homework done. Parents can save time in the morning by getting lunchboxes and breakfast items ready at night. A big family calendar posted in an easily visible location should allow the whole family to view everyone’s schedule. Patty Pless, parent coach

Interviews have been edited and condensed. Luke O’Neil can be reached at lukeoneil47@gmail.com.