My game group's cleanup problem had a simple fix I overlooked
We always ended game night with a big mess and me cleaning up alone. It hit me that we see packing up as boring, not part of the fun. So I made it a contest to see who could put away pieces the fastest. Now everyone rushes to help, and we finish in no time. It was right there the whole time.
Totally get that. We had a real bad cleanup standoff after every game of Ticket to Ride. Started timing the whole pack-up with a phone stopwatch and trying to beat our last record. It turned a chore into a dumb little team challenge. Now someone just yells "clock's running" and it's a mad dash to get the box closed.
We used to have the same issue with Settlers of Catan, all those tiny roads and settlements everywhere. Our fix was just making a rule that if you didn't help pack your color's pieces, you got docked a pretend victory point next game. It's silly but it totally worked, like a little shame timer. Now it's just what we do without thinking.