Today, I am thrilled to have Joshua Zerkel of Custom Living Solutions guest blogging. Based here in San Francisco, Zerkel is a professional organizer and productivity expert. He has cracked the code on cable management {a problem most of us have in our home and offices!} and am excited to have him share some of his techniques with us.
This is Joshua Zerkel from Custom Living Solutions. In addition to the work I do with clients helping them get more organized and boost their productivity by managing their paper, space, and time, I specialize in helping clients integrate technology into their work and into their lives. I’m pretty geeky, so sharing how to best use technology is really fun for me. Part of working with technology means finding ways to deal with the array of cables that seem to multiply with each new device we get. I’ve spent many hours under desks and behind cabinets trying to make it seem like the cables are barely there. Here’s how I do it:
Reduce – The vast majority of clients that I work with have way, way more cables than they need. There’s a sort of “cable entropy” that happens for most of us. We get a computer and some peripherals, the cables go behind the desk, and when we get new devices or gizmos to replace our old ones, many of us leave the old cables behind or just let them drop behind the desk. This can lead to a giant cable tangle. Sorting out this tangle, and determining exactly which cables are needed, is the first step in cable management. Make sure you have all of your devices hooked up properly, and then responsibly dispose of the unneeded cables at your local e-waste recycler.
Go wireless – Lots of devices, from computers to speakers, can now live with fewer wires thanks to technology like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Fewer wires equals less clutter! If your computer or peripherals can work wirelessly, you may be able to significantly reduce the amount of cables you have to manage. If you’re replacing an older device, it’s worth it to spend the extra money to get one that has a wireless option. And if you can’t go wireless, consider purchasing shorter cables to reduce the slack you’ll have to manage.
Label – For any cables or wires that you are keeping, it’s definitely worth it to pull out your labelmaker and clearly label your cables. Instead of trying to figure out the mystery of a group of all-black, similarly shaped cables, clearly labeling makes it so much easier when you need to unplug and then re-plug your gizmos. I recommend labeling your cables at BOTH ends with the name of the device that the cable is connected to.
Group – Once you’ve reduced your cables to the ones you actually need and use, then it’s time to start gathering them together. I prefer to create two groups – the power cables, and then the other cables (audio, video, USB, etc.). Once the cables are grouped, then it’s time to get some cable ties and wrap the cords so they don’t become separated. Make sure to leave enough slack so that you can still access your various components easily.
Hide – The final step in cable management is to hide the cables as much as you can. There are plenty of tools can help with this, from cable sheaths which you can put groups of cables into, to cable boxes which help to hide power adapters, extra cable slack, and power strips. A technique I like to use as much as I can is to route cables down the rear legs of a desk or table, and to tie them in place where they won’t be noticed. This is how I’ve made cables “disappear” for many of my clients.
Cable management is definitely an art, and it takes some careful planning and ingenuity to make sure that you manage and hide the cables as much as you can.
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