On cleaning: a friend of mine started an eco-friendly cleaning company with my help. We did a ton of research on green products, advertising, etc. and most importantly on a good efficient way to clean homes/offices. Along the way I picked up a little book called 'Speed Cleaning' by Jeff Campbell, and fell in love with it.
It is a geek's dream of house cleaning - he analyzes common cleaning routines and maximizes efficiency to the nth degree, with detailed instructions of flow patterns, efficient motions, etc. It is simply the best, most efficient approach to cleaning I've ever seen. It's like a cross between cooking for engineers and cooks illustrated in methodology, and we fell in love with the sheer detaileness and thoroughness of it. Some people hate the fact that he promotes his products, but I can ignore product 'recommendations' and stick to the techniques.
Point being what used to be a herculean, dreaded task of cleaning my 2000 sq. foot house now takes just under an hour and a half a week, (top to bottom with three bathrooms, tons of laundry and four cats
, plus quick daily tidying of kitchen, etc. I see tons of copies on Amazon starting at 0.10 so it's the best investment you'll ever make.