1. Plan daily "quiet time"

The best way to quiet down is to plan 30-minutes (or more) of daily quiet time. Time you can spend quietly, with yourself and your thoughts.

2. Create a noise-free zone

Designate one room of your house as a noise-free zone where family members can go relax.

3. Turn off television/radio

Do you leave your t.v. or radio on as "background noise?" If so, try turning them off.

4. Turn off your telephone, especially at night

Nothing is more disturbing than shrill ring of a telephone when you are trying to relax. Turn off your phone's ringer. Let answering machine or voicemail system get a message.

5. Turn off your cel phone

In fact, leave it at home. After a while you may find that you don't even need it.

I'm blessed to live quite close to some of best museums in world. At least a couple of times a year, my wife and I will visit our favorite museums to see new exhibits and cherished pieces of art. There is a certain joy in great art, I've found, and I almost always walk through museums with a silly grin plastered on my face as I try to take it all in. While I am by no means an art historian, one thing I've come to learn is that artwork demands various levels of inspection. You must look at it from many angles, in various lights, in different frames of mind.