Organize by Recent Posts?

Hi,

Is there a way to merely organize your most recent posts in columns rather than by just categories? For example, right now, I have one recent post from every category on my site listed, when I’d really just like the 5 or 6 last posts that I’ve done show up, regardless of whatever category they’re in. I don’t want to exclude any categories, but I don’t want to necessarily show the latest post from each category…just the latest posts I’ve done, in general.