There are those of us who love to clean and organise. These people have all kinds of cleaning tools and instruments, all varieties of liquids and gels. They know when to use bleach-for-colors and when to just use a good prewash. (They even know what that vacuum attachment with the brush on the end of it is for! And they use it!)

And then there's the rest of us.

We don't willingly fold, wash, wipe, or otherwise clean anything until even the dog is looking at us like we're pigs. After all, it's so much easier to sit in your own filth than to actually get off your butt and clean it up, right?

But when you absolutely have to keep your place clean (be it because you can't stand the mess or because someone you live with or frequents your apartment insists), here are some helpful tips that will hopefully make it a little easier for you.

• Put it away after you use it. Don't brush this off as obvious; you don't do it or your house would be cleaner! Put the DVD back in its case after you've watched the movie. A little extra effort to rinse the cup after you use it is a million times better than scrubbing off the dried-on crud three days later.
• Give yourself just 15 minutes at the end of your day. Seriously, set a timer when you start, then stop as soon as the timer beeps. This time is for the little things you couldn't take care of right after you were done with them. But, even better than that, these 15 minutes are the time when you start to make a dent on the built-up clutter in your house. Grab all the magazines and put them back in the magazine rack. Find your shoes scattered around the living room and put them in your closet. After a few nights, you'll be surprised at how far you've gotten!

• Get cleaning supplies that actually work. If your vacuum is only pushing around the dirt, then you're not only not cleaning, you're getting frustrated in the process! Personally, I love Swiffer for hard floors and surfaces, but whatever gets you even slightly excited about cleaning (or makes you loathe it less), you should spring for it!

• Choose a designated day for each of your tasks. Take into account the general schedule your school or work follows (always wiped on Tuesday nights? then plan to give yourself a break). For example, if Monday is your laundry day, make yourself do laundry on Mondays, and leave the laundry you don't finish dirty until the next week. You'll quickly teach yourself that laundry has to be done on Monday, and that way you'll always have clean laundry!
• Throw on some upbeat music. Nothing makes time fly by like good music, so why not enjoy your cleaning time? It doesn't matter if you like Fergie, French rap, or catchy Frank Sinatra tunes. Whatever gets your feet moving will get your duster moving, too! Even better, if you're home alone you can dance around while you clean!
• Make a roommate clean with you. Misery loves company, so if this doesn't make it more fun, at least it makes you feel better about being miserable. But having someone else who's responsible for the mess actually clean the mess with you will make the process happen twice as fast, and you can skillfully take the easier jobs (taking out the trash) and leave the sucky jobs for your roommate (pulling hair out of the drain).
• If all else fails, get someone else to do it. Whether you hire a professional cleaner to come in twice a week or bribe your roommate to do it all while you do his homework, you can always find someone to scrub the toilet for you if you're willing to pay the price.