To-do lists

What is it about to-do lists? Why do they never get any shorter? I work and I toil but never does that list seem to get any shorter. The more I do around here, the more appears to replace the things I have crossed off the list.

I have been participating in the Manage Your Life forum at Scrapshare for about a year now and I have noted that I am not the only one who has noticed this phenomenon with our lists.

So my current to-do list looks like this:
Laundry
Can tomatoes
Can beets
Shred zucchini
Sweep/mop kitchen floor
Completely clear/wash microwave counter
Clear out/organize food container cabinet
Take fall pictures of kids
Put away food dehydrator
Clear/clean island counter
Clear/clean sink counter
Collect all printed recipes and organize
Clean out/organize island cabinets
Dust every flat surface in house
Do some fall decorating

I have to stop there. There is so much more. And that is not even getting into the big projects that need to be done like building a hay storage area for Jessie's goat feed/hay, fixing the leaky spot in the shower rail in the master bathroom, closing out the garden, etc., etc.

So, short of hiring a cleaning crew, I can't figure out how to make the to-do list get shorter. There is only one me and since Matt is spending his every-other-Friday-off sleeping, I am guessing from long experience that no help is coming from that quarter. The kids are in school and when they aren't, well, let me just say I have not trained good workers.

Anyone got a magic wand they aren't currently in need of? Because I could put it to good use!