Keeping a cleaning routine

Keeping a cleaning routine need not be a chore. 

The first step is to not have a million and one cleaning products.

Keep only the basics - vinegar, bleach, rags. You'll be amazed how far these go.

'Reset' the kitchen and living rooms every night. In the long run, this means putting pillows on the couch, no stuff on the floors (wrappers, tissues, shoes everywhere, blankets that slid off the couch), and a clean surface on the coffee table. Coasters stacked and TV remotes in their places. Any dishes should get brought to the kitchen.

For the kitchen,the sink should be empty and dishes are drying on the rack or dishwasher.

If there's a lot of packaging from grocery shopping, try to break it down right after unloading groceries so it goes into the recycling right away and doesn't clutter up the space week to week. Try using reusable grocery bags to avoid having tons of cheap thin plastic bags flying around the house. They're a plague.

Try to clean bathrooms at least once a week. Wipe down the sink, mirror, and toilet tank. Floors are vacuumed and mopped.

Now, none of this is perfect but it helps to keep things relatively orderly all the time to over the overwhelming doom feeling of having giant messes everywhere.