Adam Sandler said it first: “Good things come in threes: need my phone , wallet , keys .” It’s true! We need this trifecta every single day, and so micro-optimizing how we interact with these things has enabled us to start our days efficiently and stressfree.

1. Phone

My brother-in-law was the first person I knew who organized his phone apps into directories, and it was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

I also alphabetized my home screen directories, which makes it easier to find less frequently used categories and apps.

2. Wallet

Wallets in our family (ahem, not naming names) used to go missing in the car , in work bags , in gym bags , in pant pockets , behind our night stand … I don’t have a wallet (just saying), since I keep what I need in a Smartish wallet phone case . My husband’s wallet (okay, so we named names) also had another problem: it needed to be packed 1.5” thick or everything would fall out, and it etched wallet-shaped marks into all of his jeans.

• Solution Part 1: We found the SlimFold Nano Soft Shell wallet which fit exactly what was needed and slid easily into pant pockets.
• Solution Part 2: I installed this acrylic remote control storage box in our dining room as his wallet’s home. It’s conveniently located (whether he’s coming or going), and we can always see whether the wallet is in its spot. Took <1 week to form a habit of returning his wallet there, and we no longer spend any time searching for it on our way out the door!

3. Keys

I saved the best for last. Our key situation is awesome.

Considerations

• Car: We rarely drive (our single, shared car), so it’s better to keep those keys separately.
• Pockets: Keys that fit in pockets let us be hands-free outside.
• Friends: It’s convenient to give friends labeled, spare key sets as needed.
• Bikes: Our bike lock keys look almost identical (and came in two-packs).
• Entrances: We alternate between using the front entrance and the back entrance.
• Mailbox: It’s annoying to come in through the front entrance and not have the mail key (did I mention we live in a 3rd-floor walkup?)

Ta-da! I made several house key bunches with colored key ring label tags. Each bundle has an outside door key (with a key cap), the indoor key, and a mail key. We can grab any set on our way out (and hand over sets to friends as needed). Because of the spare sets, we also aren’t slowed down if we forgot yesterday’s keys in a different bag.

I keep car keys, bike keys, office keys, and other specialty keys on their own rings with these mini caribiner clips to attach to other bunches as needed. Duplicate keys are always labeled with matching colored key tags and split between the front and back entrances.

Big hooks are key (pun intended)! I found these gorgeous hooks on Etsy for the back entrance, and we keep our sunglasses and parking pass (on a binder clip and hair elastic) here, too.

The front entrance has big (robe) hooks, too, which I find to be more functional for key bunches than “specialized” key hooks.

Shilpa Kobren is the Associate Director of Rare Disease Analysis at Harvard Medical School where she focuses on analyzing genomic sequencing data with patient clinical information to derive insights into human diseases. Shilpa lives in an 1890s urban apartment in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and two energetic toddlers. She retains her sense of peace amid the chaos by creating and iteratively improving systems that optimize daily efficiency in her family's constrained living space.