One way I try to keep my home less cluttered is a five minute clean up. I set the iPod timer for five minutes and pick up around my place. It is only five minutes, but sometimes the difference is striking. I like doing this before I go to sleep each night or if I have five extra minutes before I need to go to work. It is nice coming home to a cleaned up apartment. It also works well when a bunch of my nieces and nephews are over. Usually the the floor is swept, rooms are vacuumed, and things are put away so we are not stepping on everything. Another benefit of five minutes of cleaning is that when someone calls to say she is going to stop by, my place is more or less presentable.
