I have recently started following the Clean Mama method (google for website). Every day, do the basics like clean sink, make beds, laundry, sweep up floors after meals, tidy up, etc
Then every day, there is a specific spot area. I find this works best, because even if I clean the house top to bottom, my kids will mess it up within 30 minutes. What's the point?!? Nothing really ever feels clean anyway, so I am trying to win a war that can't be won (at this stage of my life). Monday is bathrooms, Tuesday dusting, etc. I find that sticking to a schedule at least means it is never too long since I last did xyz. Also, getting off my butt to clean usually encourages me to wipe a couple more things, but I aim for the minimum to be happy with my productivity.
Case in point, we had impromptu friends show up a couple weeks ago with <30 min notice, and we had the house ready real quick because the stuff (vaccuming, dusting, clean sink) were pretty much taken care of and we were on top of. We just had to tidy the kids toys up. It was so much less stressful and that was an eye opener for me. I, too, used to get stressed about people coming over and it would take me 2 hours to get house clean. Then I would not want them coming over, because of the barrier it involved. No more. I value having people over now that I am getting out of the baby/young toddler phase. Having people over makes me happy, so focusing on cleaning a bit every day gives me better disposition for being open to friends over. Win/win/win.
No, this system is no perfect. But doing a little every day and sticking to it has been the most consistent thing for me thus far in my life. Plus, most importantly, I don't stress about cleaning anymore. I just do stuff on auto pilot now. Having that mental clutter removed is awesome.
As for cleaning tools: get an awesome vaccum that truly picks up the dust (having a crappy vaccum gave me more grief and made me hate cleaning), microfiber towels, I use Mrs Meyers right now for cleaning virtually everything. I am going to look into a vinegar homemade cleaner once I get my system going a bit longer. I have an old steam cleaner for cleaning floors well that has a washable pad. I wash all those things once a week.
Hope this helps! Keep trying to find something that works for YOU