Illustrator has a “select object by path only” option that I love. The entire object is no longer a giant selection area, only the path defining it. Just do a quick swipe to define a selection rectangle over the path and it’s selected.<p>There is also an option next to it called “command click to select objects behind”, which ignores the top object. I’m not sure of the precise details of how it works with a deep stack of objects, I have it on but never use it.<p>Having an actual strategy for organizing your layers helps too, give them names, don’t just cram all your objects into the top level of the list like the example screenshot. Lock the ones you’re not using at the moment. I’d have 2-4 layers for the example, for instance: one for the type, one for the stroked hexagon, one for the filled hexagons, and one for the background fill. And they would each have actual names instead of “Layer 23”.<p>Also turning on thumbnails in the layer panel may be helpful here, this makes it much easier to never have to shift out of visual identification.