Each of the recently released books espouses the need for a more streamlined approach to life, but with slightly different recommendations on how to get there, and different expectations for how much stuff you need in your home.

Where “The Minimalist Home” champions a life with as few possessions as possible, offering a room-by-room guide on how to get there, “The Home Edit” focuses on categorizing possessions in stylish containers, turning drawers and closets into whimsical storage systems, offering various solutions depending on the size and style of your pantry.

And Ms. Rubin, in “Outer Order, Inner Calm,” sees power in organizing specific places, like the coat closet (or the kitchen or the sock drawer). If you know where to put your hat and gloves when you walk in the door, and where to find them when you’re ready to leave, you can focus on bigger life hurdles. “When you feel more in control of yourself, when you feel like you have more self-command, it can help you do harder things,” she said. “Feeling like your coat closet is under control could help you eat more healthfully or exercise better.”

Ms. Rubin does not suggest any one way to organize that closet. Instead, she suggested, “Do it in a way that works for you. You may want to do it all in one Saturday.” Or perhaps you’d rather spend 10 minutes a day tidying up for a year.

The goal, she argues — with headings like “Are you a counter-filler or a counter-clearer?” — is to figure out what motivates you and then find a system that works, whatever that may be.