5 Best Hacks To Organize Your Power Cables
Nothing screams “disorganized” to your friends and colleagues more clearly than cable clutter around your workspace. Having power cords around your desk makes your whole set up look clanky and automatically steals the attention of any aesthetically pleasing features of your desk.
Cables criss crossing your desk, and floor can be a trip hazard, not to mention the destruction and loss of office machinery if they are accidentally tugged too hard. About 4,000 injuries are associated with extension cords and result in hospital emergency room visits annually.
Your laptop’s charging cord, USB cable for your phone, and any other bits and bobs that have power cables can be organized meticulously. Here is why you should practice cable management and five hacks to do it effectively.
Importance of Cable Management
Cable management helps create visually appealing aesthetics around your work area. It also helps maintain a clean environment because jungled up cables attract dust. You don’t want your office floor or desk, for that matter, looking like a rat’s nest with all the wire madness.
It ensures safety: Your work area and general premises of business shout be up to code in terms of employee safety. Cable-related injuries resulting from tripping hazards caused by power cables on the floor can be avoided by placing cord covers on top of wires. You also protect your cables from being stepped on.
Reduces the time waste on cable disentanglement: Cable disentanglement takes a long time. Not to mention all the frustrations associated with it. Digging through a heap of intertwined cables is not fun. It takes up a lot of precious office time, and there’s a possibility your sanity may never be the same.
Cable management saves you money: You not only get a much cleaner, organized workspace, you also maximize and lengthen both the performance and the life of your power cables. Managing your cables also helps you avoid the unnecessary charges associated with extension cord repair.
Cable Management Hacks That Work
1. Try wrapping the cables.
Loose cables are an eye-sore. However, it doesn’t mean they can be fixed by only wrapping them up. If you want a quick fix, a simple twist tie will do the trick, but if you are in it for the long run, try getting some zip ties or Velcro to wrap the cables up.
Velcro and zip ties work awesomely. They are even equipped for more significant and thicker cable bundles, and you can get them as tight or as loose as you desire. They are a cheap and effective way to switch up your cable management and do great for your cable layout.
2. Get the Cables Off the Floor.
The bundles of cords on the floor is not a pretty sight. Finding a way to attach them to the floor and cover them or on the side of your desk is a great idea to handle these idle cables. Cables on the floor are a tripping hazard, and they make it hard to vacuum clean the space.
3. Consider Shortening Your Cable Length.
Zip ties and Velcro hold the cables under your desk, but you can still have an issue with the excess cable length sitting on your desk. Shortening their length temporarily is an excellent solution for this. When you need more length, you can simply adjust it to your liking.
You can use great DIY tools to shorten your cable, like the Cablebone, but if you don’t have time for “arts and crafts,” buying a retractable cord reel and cable boxes will do a great job of your cable management.
4. Label Your Cables.
If you have a sea of cables around your office, chances are you’ve confused its use and probably still do. A great way to manage your lines effectively is to give them labels. Labeling each of the cables will help you keep the connections straight, and when one malfunctions, you can quickly identify it because of the titles.
A quick fix for this is to get a bit of masking tape and wrap it around your cable. Leave a little fold tab on the tape for labeling with a pen. This makes connections easy as you don’t have to go diving looking for cables.
5. Use Binder Clips to Keep Cables Together.
Who would’ve thought binder clips would come in handy when managing your cables? Used for pinching your documents, this little nifty office equipment can hold your USB cables, Ethernet, and any other small-sized cable. Simply clip one or two to your desk’s back edge, then place your lines on the clamps’ metal hoops.
Final Thoughts
Cable management is a big deal. People invest vast amounts of money in it, so you should too. The global wire and cable management market is projected to reach USD 25.26 Billion by 2023, growing at 8.36% annually from 2018 to 2023. Also, since your cords are organized, they are much more durable than when they are bent and all over the place.
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