Another option to getting to task manager quickly is to right click on an open area of the task bar, then choose the "start task manager" option. You can also pin the task manager to the task bar to act as a quick launch if that is what you are looking for.
Of course one there is one last choice, if you go to the start menu in Windows 7 and in the search field at the bottom of the start menu, type "taskmgr" without the quotes, then hit the enter key on your keyboard, that too will launch the task manager directly.
I hope these tips helped out.