Since my Organizational Personality is Nothing Out/The Minimalist, any appearance of clutter really bothers me and affects my ability to focus. It's the main reason why I don't use an external keyboard, mouse, or have a second monitor. Well, I don't have a second monitor because of the huge distraction it creates, but that's a topic for another blog post.
The only piece of equipment I have on my desk is my MacBook Pro. It's.that.serious.
If you're not a flaming Minimalist like me, you probably have some type of wire clutter on your desk and it's probably driving you crazy. It's unsightly and if you have guests over and your home office is located in a frequently-accessed room, you're embarrassed by your bird's nest of wires.
Here are three ways to organize and eliminate cable clutter.
Go Commando: Be a Minimalist
For those who would much rather not see any cables, you can go cold-turkey and eliminate all peripherals from your desk (keyboard, lamp, mouse, etc).
Go Wireless
For those who hate cable clutter but can't fathom eliminating your external devices and equipment, you're the perfect candidate for a wireless setup. If you're going to go wireless, please do the environment a favor and use rechargeable batteries and take the dead batteries to a recycling center for proper disposal.
Get Creative
If commando or wireless are not viable solutions for you, it's time to get creative with how you tame your cable clutter. Here are seven options (some ideas more creative than others) to get your creative juices flowing and most can be combined to create a complete solution:
- Velcro Strips. Quick and easy solution to organize cables together. The most sophisticated data centers swear by velcro strips and I use them to organize cables for equipment that I infrequently use.
- Hooks. Attach the hooks to your desk and hang the cables on the hooks.
- Binder Clips. Binder clips just aren't for papers anymore. You can clip these on the edge of your desk and run the cables through the hooks or use them to “bind” several different cables together.
- Everything Clip. As the name suggests, you can use these for everything. Similar to binder clips but cuter.
- Magazine Box. Once your cables are organized, place the extra cable sections inside of a magazine box for fashionable hidden storage. The holes on the end make this is a viable solution.
- Rain Gutter. I discovered this genius idea on Lifehacker.com. It's a great solution for getting those heavy power adapter boxes off your floor and away from your feet.
- Cable Box. Place a cable box on your desktop or the floor and you can hide the cables that connect to your power cord inside.
Wait…Label Your Cables First!
Before you start organizing your cables, be sure to label them. I have a Brother P-touch label maker that creates neat, legible labels that I can easily attach to the cable.
Final Words
Getting the cable clutter organized and tamed will make your home office a much more inviting space to work in. You can really get creative with your solution.
So do tell: how many different cables are in your home office? What's your biggest frustration with the layout or function of your home office?