In the Diva Stars game, you can play as one of two people: Alexis or Nikki.
I have realized that the items you have to acquire are the same each time you play. I always play as Alexis, noticing that she always wants the “girly-girl” items as opposed to sports items. Instead of always glancing at the bottom of the screen, just remember that she wants those “girly-girl” items: Mirrors, lipstick, purses…those also seem to stick out more on the screen, for some reason!
Next: I know how to go faster. This works for two reasons: 1, you simply speed up (this works in other games, too, including Ice Cream Factory and Pterattack!) 2. You are going diagonally, and, therefore, you arrive at your destination more quickly. To speed up, simply hold down two directional arrow keys at once. For example, hold down the up arrow with the right or left arrow. This works with the down arrow, as well. It helps to hold down one of those arrows, whichever is appropriate, and then simply switch pressing the left and right arrow keys.
If you pick up an item that “belongs on the shelf,” just restart your game! It’s not worth losing time over. If you’re picky, you can even restart your game to get your items near each other so you don’t have to go out of the way.