1. Find your stuff. How many times have you gotten frustrated about not being able to find your keys, wallet, phone, glasses…? Here’s the solution: Create ONE place for each item you want to be able to lay your hands on quickly. If you use the item in more than one area, create ONE place for it in each area. Put a bowl or hook near your front door so you can dump your keys as soon as you come in and find them on your way out. Put a small tray or basket in every room to serve as a home for frequently misplaced items (glasses, iPods, cell phones). This limits the number of areas to look in when you’re searching for something and makes it easier to clean up since you won’t have to go to another room to put something where it belongs. Disclaimer: This will only work if you USE these specified places, and only these places. On the plus side, the rewards are immediate in terms of saved time, anxiety, and arguments, which should make it easy to shift your habits.

2. Own the right tools. The right tool for the job makes the job a lot easier to do. For general household needs, keep the tools and supplies you use frequently in the rooms where you use them. For example, you may want a pair of scissors, a roll of tape, and a permanent marker in several rooms in your home. Keep extra essential items in one box so you can replenish them as necessary. When it comes to your kitchen, do a quick pass through and part with any utensils that just don’t work (the rusty can opener, the resistant vegetable peeler). Replace the ones you really use and relish the satisfaction of opening a can without cutting yourself on it.

Next, think about the way you cook and consider whether certain tasks consistently take up a lot of time or make a huge mess. There may be a tool out there that can make your life easier. Two of my favorite time/mess-saving-tools are the mini-prep food processor that makes quick work of anything that needs to be chopped, and the immersion blender, which is basically a stick-shaped blender that you plunge straight into a pot of food that you want to puree. This eliminates the trips back and forth to the blender, the extra bowls, the spilling, and a lot of the cleanup. Genius!

3. Do less. It’s so simple, and yet most people resist the suggestion. Why? Partly because we live in a world of expectations, both external and internal, that we feel we must live up to. We may feel overwhelmed by what we’re “supposed” to be accomplishing, and yet we’re so caught up in the way things are that we don’t realize they can be any different. What would happen if you believed you had a choice? If you said no to chairing that committee? If you declined an invitation? If you took on one fewer project? I’m not saying it’s easy to do, especially if you’re not used to saying no, or if you’re afraid of the consequences. I am saying that it’s an option.

Consider the pros and cons of doing less. Ask yourself how you benefit from trying to do as much as you do, and then ask yourself what it’s costing you. Start with just one item on your calendar. Let’s say a friend has invited you to a concert in which she is performing. The benefits: You like your friend and want to support her; you like concerts and deserve an evening out; it’s an opportunity to hang out with other friends and meet new people. Great! Now, the costs: The concert is going to end late and it’s a weeknight, which means you will probably be tired at work the next day and will definitely not go to the gym in the morning; you’ve already made plans for two other nights of the week so the project that you’ve been putting off, whether it’s laundry, a new book, or spending time with your significant other, is going to be put off again; there will be anxiety over the activities you missed out on because you chose to go to the concert. Now simply ask yourself, “Is it worth giving up the benefit to eliminate the cost?”

Please note: There is no wrong answer. If you choose to go to the concert, it is now a conscious choice, which is empowering. Enjoy the concert and be OK with the effect it has on your self and your schedule. If you choose not to go, you will have more time and peace of mind to do and enjoy the other things on your list. Their value rises simply by virtue of being the ones you’ve chosen to focus on. When the activities on your list reflect what is truly important to you, and when there are few enough that you can pay attention to each one, you won’t have to work nearly as hard to achieve balance and contentment in your life.

Jennifer Zwiebel is a professional organizer and the founder of The Kosher Hostess. She is dedicated to finding ways to make people's lives easier, more fun, and more fulfilling. Learn more about living the life you want to live at www.jenniferzwiebel.com, and give the kids you know a head start on organizing with Jennifer's book, The Organized Student.