is it more efficient and easier to just concentrate on feeling good/happy and letting everything just fall in to place from there?

Yes, of course, Get Happy is what it's ultimately all about.

Just getting to that state and generally staying there will bring you all that you want (over time). It might even be enough for you for a lifetime.

There is a hidden problem though with just getting happy...Boredom :)

I noticed this a long time ago (before I knew about Abraham) after years of gradually arranging and rearranging my life so I could have everything in its "proper place" and just live a peaceful non-desireful life of ease and contentment.

After some weeks of achieving this blissful desireless state, something unexpected happened: I was bored out of my mind :)

It was only then that I finally understood what many wise people have said before that life isn't about desiring everything you have (i.e. being as desireless as possible), it's really about having everything you desire i.e. being as desireful as possible. (See the story of the stream in Illusions)

Once you've had that realization at a deep level, you're probably then ready to get your hands dirty with in-depth, precision-level manifesting methods for the right reasons...not to manifest things because you want them or need them, but to enjoy the thrill of molding manifestations into place. This is what Abraham term the feeling of "having your hands in the clay".

The joy is in the journey, not in reaching the destination.

With all that mind, here are the methods/processes I like the best (in no particular order)...

For Vortex Alignment : Method 1

Advanced Focus Blocks (using the vibrational spreadsheet): http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/7040#7077

I've been evolving this method for more than a decade now and have never come across anything more consistent and quick for achieving those alignments. I would struggle to do it without my spreadsheet though because of the speed at which my mind races as I'm doing these alignments. If you don't have that "problem", you could probably just use a notebook.

There is a private spreadsheet users group where I (occasionally) release more powerful versions of the sheet.

For Vortex Alignment: Method 2

Writing Inward Quest answers: http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/95022#95032

I've said a few times before on this site that probably most of the answers I write here are for me. In trying to explain concepts to others, I find it's a neat trick to get (or stay) Vortex-aligned.

For me at least, in focusing upon these ideas, I'm (unconsciously) having to "tune into" that Broader/Higher Self in order to get the information to flow. As a bonus, someone else might also benefit from the answer at some point but that's actually secondary - the true emotional reward for writing the answer comes from the creative act of writing the answer.

There's that "hands in the clay" idea again. Is it more of a thrill to passively read an answer written by someone else, or create one yourself? :)

For In-The-Vortex Thrills

Vibrational World Exploration: http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/98518#98537

When you're in the Vortex and feeling great about life, that's the time to really turn on the specificness of your desires. (When you're out of the Vortex, you should aim to stay more general about what's bothering you).

VWE is a thrill I can keep going with for a long time (sometimes hours)...until I'm getting so excited that an unstoppable inspired action presents itself and I can't resist pursuing it in physical reality.

Like Advanced Focus Blocks, I would struggle to do this without the spreadsheet because my mind goes into overdrive during this Vortex-driven focused state, and I've designed the software to be frictionless enough (for me, at least) to keep up with it. VWE is currently in an (unreleased) version of the spreadsheet that I'm still developing though you can mimic it manually as I've described in the private spreadsheet group.

For Deliberate Manifesting

Reach For The Emotion method: http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/97059#97062 and http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/97159#97183

Also explained visually, and in more detail (along with disturbingly violent undertones, my wife tells me) is my tongue-in-cheek titled Death Star video series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_120GpLmh2fruJHGrvxSeYnP9-iDJIOI

This method is really the culmination of the Manifesting Experiment 5 branch of deliberate manifesting methods that I've been trying to simplify for some years.

One day, I was randomly listening to an Abraham recording and something they said made everything fall into place for me. I was finally ready to hear it even though I had heard those recordings before and missed it. This method is currently my preferred approach for deliberate manifesting of desires.

It's not really a beginner method because you need to be closely in tune with your emotional state (start meditating if you are not) and be pretty good at switching between your logical/physical mind and your creative/intuitive/feeling mind...keep practicing Vortex alignments (from a mental/logic/verbal-based starting point, like Advanced Focus Blocks) and you'll naturally develop the skill.

"Reach For The Emotion" is a dynamite systematic manifesting method - the most effective I know of, right now :)

For Industrial-Strength Clean-ups

Manifesting Experiment 4: http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/14919

The "Rage Against My Wife" Approach: http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/94933#94939

If something was bothering me so much in my life that I couldn't even focus on anything else (like trying to feel better), I would employ these rock-solid techniques.

Don't fall into the trap of trying to clean up everything though. That's a game you'll never win. Only use them to clean up topics that are so in-your-face that you feel like you are drowning (vibrationally) in them.

After that, I would switch into using Focus Blocks Vortex Alignments on a daily basis which simultaneously do clean-ups and get you Vortex aligned.

For Building A Habit Of Vortex Alignment

30 Day Vortex Challenge: http://www.inwardquest.com/questions/93202

This helps set up your life so that "by default" you move to a Vortex-aligned state instead of a bad-feeling state. For newcomers, it's very likely to be a bumpy ride to set up dominantly-feeling good habits (All Hell Breaking Loose) and it might take you several attempts to finally do it.

The end result of being habitually-Vortex-aligned affects (in a good way) every part of your life in every moment of every day...so I guess it might be worth a try :)

Those are my personal favorite methods at this time and ones that I feel have stood the test of time during many different life circumstances.

But everyone comes to these subjects from different vibrational places, differing levels of background knowledge and experience, and different belief systems.

So, really, the only way to judge whether any particular method is for you is to try it and see whether it generates an effective and repeatable emotional change for you. Over time, you'll probably figure out what works well for you and your particular life situation.