Like most of us I am besieged by the clutter demon! However I find this does help a little. Every night before I go to bed I tidy up the living room/kitchen area.. ie, any read newspapers are picked up and put in the recycle box, coffee cups rinsed and put on the sink, Kitchen bench given a final wipe down, anything that is out of place put away, and so on.
It does help to make things a little less daunting looking the next morning!
I am a quilter and have always used what I call "scraps of time" to do little things. If I only have ten or fifteen minutes, whether it be at night, or before I leave the house in the morning, or if I am waiting for any reason at all, I can still get a lot done. I can get the laundry ready to go for when I get home. I can tidy up as you suggested, I can vaccuum the living room. I can get the kitchen floor ready to clean for when I come home. I can get dinner ready in a casserole dish to pop in the oven later. I don't waste a thing or a minute!
By using all these scraps of time, I actually get to relax and enjoy my weekends.