Rather than launching the System Preferences application and then clicking the desired icons it is possible to double-click the individual panes as items.
These are contained within:
/System/Library/Preferences
These individual panes can also be dropped into the dock giving even quicker access to the pane - for example - sound, monitor, etc.
Mac OS X Hints
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20001222045825498