Well, sometimes you just have to work with what your current setup is (specially when cooking in a kitchen that is not yours). One of the things that I really like to do when cooking is proper preparation:
before cooking I always:
- make sure that the things I have to use are clean and dry (pot, knifes, plates etc)
- I always try to get all of those that I would use out so in cooking time, I know where to find them
- I don't multitask - I try to prepare first and then cook instead of having to slice extra ingredients while cooking.