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When cooking, clean some of the utensils and pots and stuff and put them away as you go along. That way, when you’re done cooking, most of the dishes are already done.
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Do laundry and house cleaning on a set schedule. For instance, I do my laundry on Wednesdays and Sundays, and clean the apartment on the first weekend every month. Stick to it. The rest of the time, feel free to ignore those tasks completely. That way, it somehow all gets done, and you never ever have to feel guilty about it again.
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Have a big bag of rubber bands around. Those suckers are handy for everything. Stick them on whatever needs closing or tying up.
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Also, have a huge amount of kitchen towels. Whenever you need one, just grab one, then chuck it in the laundry. Have enough so that you never run out, even if you use a huge pile every day. I have about thirty (single person household).
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With the exception of those two items, have as little stuff as possible. Less clutter means more peace of mind.
And bread twisties for some reason. Even if you prefer the fancy “tie handle” trash bags at one point in your life buy the cheepo bags for the glut of twist-ties. You would be surprised at how often you’ll use them.
Similar to Martin’s first, taking that empty yoghurt to the trash now is less work and better hygiene than going through the house chasing empty yoghurts, candy wrappers, and other small trash items later. You don’t necessarily have to do it as-soon-as-the-yoghurt-is-eaten, but do it the first time you’re headed in the general direction of the kitchen.
I know I’ll probably be called wasteful* but…
-Use aluminum foil to cover plates to avoid washing dishes. (Only if the food doesn’t require cutting with a knife)
*I figure I’m conserving water and minimizing phosphates from the soap, at least. 
Wife is always right is the ultimate trick.
Exactly what are you using these towels for that you need thirty of them? The only thing I use kitchen towels for is drying dishes and hands, and that happens infrequently enough that I can get by with just one or two.
I dunno. I find myself wiping tables and sinks, cleaning stains and dust off stuff, getting tomato sauce on them, getting them wet a lot… when I only had a couple, I was constantly needing a clean kitchen towel, so I just got a pile of them. I seem to be using them a lot.
Am I weird? 
Cook doubles - If you are making dinner (chilli, bolognaise, curry, casserole, cottage pie, lasagna …) it takes a bit of extra time to double the recipe and freeze the extra meal. It means you have a great easy meal for an evening when you don’t have that time. We also use chickpeas or lentils to stretch mince (hamburger) based meals - I generally feed 6 adults with 400g beef mince (stretched with lots of peppers and onions and chickpeas and canned tomatoes).
Si
Shrug, what I’ve been using to dust for the last few months was kitchen towels (towels, not cloths) which had been used to dry my hands/water (not to wipe off food/oil). Then Mom came to visit and bought me a dusting cloth, “and it’s great, it can go to the washer!”. It makes her happy, but I promise my towels dusted just fine - and they go into the washer, too.
You and I prefer to have less types of cloths, my mother prefers to have more, but in the end we come up to having the same total amount (although I don’t have 30 towels, but maybe I do the washing more often).
OK, I just counted, and the number 30 was a bit over the top, turns out I only have 18. 
Anyway, the point still stands, I have so many that I always always have a clean one. And yeah, I use them for pretty much everything towel-related.
Every time you move about your house, take something with you. For example, if I’m on the computer and need to go upstairs to the loo, I think ‘Does anything need to be taken upstairs?’ and I take it with me. Similarly if I’m in the lounge and I head into the kitchen - are there any dishes in the lounge I could take with me?
Similarly, we use our staircases as temporary resting places for stuff that needs to get moved. So if you’re going up the stairs and there’s something at the bottom of the stairs, you take it up with you. If you’re going down the stairs and there’s something at the top of the stairs, you take it down with you. (Our house has three storeys so constantly climbing up and down two flights of stairs can be a bit onerous, hence our stair system).
We do this in theory. In practice it often results in tripping over the 12-pack of toilet rolls that my wife had left at the bottom of the stairs to be taken upstairs when I come down in the dark.
Do you also use paper towels? If not, you aren’t weird. I haven’t bought paper towels in years.
Yeah; you’re just using them where some other people would use paper towels. I don’t because we use so many, what with potty training the pupp, that even 18 wouldn’t be enough.
Since I did my big clean-up I’ve found it actually relatively easy to keep everything tidy. I have set chores every morning: water plants (more or less depending on the weather), take rubbish out as I take the dog for a walk, make the beds (plus make my daughter’s huge breakfast).
Then at night I clean the kitchen floor and make sure the dishwasher and washing machine are loaded with everything available and, if they’re full enough, switch them on.
I also find that drinking hot drinks helps, odd as it sounds. It means I’m standing around for 2 minutes waiting for the kettle to boil, so I can use that time to wipe down the surfaces, stick stuff in the dishwasher, scrub a roasting pan, fold laundry, etc.
That leaves only hoovering, ironing, putting clothes away and bathroom cleaning, really, and they can be done as a mid-day chore to get me off the sofa (I work from home).
Speaking of bathroom cleaning, giving the shower/tub a rinse when you’re done is likely to make the “big cleaning” easier. IME, most tubs/stalls will get soap/crud buildup without that final swoosh from the showerhead (I guess it’s showing that most of my showerheads have been “telephones”, which you can point wherever as needed). And if you have shower curtains, make sure to leave them extended when wet and give them an occasional shake, so they dry better (it will avoid mold).
Huh. I thought it was “it’s cheaper to keep her.”
Saran the top of high things that get dusty. Like my stacked washer dryer, I can’t see up there, when I get round to cleaning it, it’s a disaster. So now, I saran the top, invisible from below, easy to remove should company be expected. Easy to replace once they’re gone. Saves a ton of cleaning.
I also use rags, and lots of them. On cleaning day the washer sits open and the dirty rags get tossed in as I go. I either buy face cloths on sale, or cut up old dish towels once stained. Both things are available cheap. No need to waste time rinsing and reusing, one use and into the washer they go. I also use them in place of paper towels. Very helpful, once the place is clean, run the washer and done.
When my kitchen is a wreck, I fill the kettle and put it on for tea. Then I start cleaning up, till the kettle boils. This is a really good trick because it brings home, every time, what can be accomplished in 10 minutes! You’ll be well into it when the kettle boils, and it will be easy to return to it, as it’s mostly complete, and well along already!
I agree that a schedule really helps. Some things just scream to go together, emptying the cat litter and cleaning out the fridge belong on garbage night, clearly. Stripping the beds, and tidying up the bedroom clothing obviously belongs on laundry day, etc.
Learn to clean green You do NOT need individual cleaners for every cleaning job.
Get some soap, baking soda, washing soda, borax, and vinegar, then google “good cleaning.” You’ll save money and the planet.
Drain cleaners are the most dangerous chemical most people have in their house. Once a week ut a couple of spoonfuls of washing soda (get it in the laundry aisle) down your drain followed by a pot of hot water.
Every piece of paper that comes into the house - newspapers, junk mail, magazines, catalogs, letters - is examined and sorted right away. Worthless stuff goes right into the paper recycling bin. On trash day, I will tell Mr. Sali to look through that stack on the table because it’s gotta go out.
Toss the laundry detergent cup into the washer with the laundry. That way there’s no sticky cup sitting around the laundry room.