Here's something that my friend suggested, and which I've been finding useful:
One thing that helped me, when I was learning to keep the place clean, was the following suggestion: learn to take stuff to its place whenever you are moving around the apartment. For example, if you get off the couch to go to the toilet and kitchen is on the way, pick up a few dishes and drop then in the kitchen sink/washing machine.
Or if the bookshelf is on your path, pick up a book you are not actively reading and put it on the shelf.
It takes a few weeks to learn this, but once it starts flowing, it really reduces the amount of work you need to do to keep the place tidy.
Heh. My mother was telling me this since I am lucid. Maybe this time I will listen.
This is also a good advice against not being entirely absent-minded but also being a bit conscious about the here-and-now. If Buddhists meditation teachers are to be believed, this is somehow a good thing. However, I disregarded that advice because I liked being absent-minded and oblivious of circumstances. Things going in on in my head are far more interesting than dishes or other "common everyday" things. Yet, the Zen folks are saying it is precisely being 100% aware of non-glamorous common things is what leads to a certain kind of enlightenment. Like sweeping the floor with 200% attention. Not 100% sure why...
Repositories are awesome, and we should have more of them.
I recently completed BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits, and it's a pretty lightweight way to install new habits (recommended). However, I realized I could use a better repository of useful habits.
So, please use this thread to suggest habits that you've found useful. Bonus points for evidence/anecdata of usefulness.
Obviously, 1 habit per comment makes upvotes a clearer signal of collective approval.