There is a great debate about the organizing styles of minimalists versus creatives. Many organizational experts suggest, “Cluttered desks equal cluttered minds.” But the desks of several great innovators of the past — as well as a few from the current day — have been documented in photos as being filled with what some may consider disarray. Einstein (who had a disorganized desk) contemplated that an empty desk was the sign of a mind void of thought and creativity.
Most organizing gurus, however, say for most people, curbing chaos can increase focus, productivity, and positivity, while lowering stress levels, and mood swings. But there’s also a camp that believes original thinkers need a certain number of distractions in their workspace to fuel their ideas. Without some type of jumble nearby, visionaries may instead lose their focus, productivity, and positivity, which in turn boosts their stress levels and mood swings.
Is there a happy medium? If you are a true artistic mind surrounded with some messes to inspire your genius, you may need to occasionally purge your space, particularly if some of your essential items go missing. But the common ground you may share with minimalism advocates is that you too may benefit from cable management to keep your space neat. It is one organizational essential category that can strike that balance between the items in an innovator’s space influencing their imaginative flow, versus the pull toward keeping necessities in order.
Why is wire organization so important? Cable clutter has the potential to hamper your creativity because it can become dangerous. Out-of-control cables may create unsafe situations, from trip hazards to expensive electronics getting damaged during a power surge.
What are some of the cable management items from CableOrganizer® that can help keep wires orderly, preventing strain on a person’s mental health if they are overwhelmed by cable confusion, yet simultaneously feeding the soul of a maximalist spirit who needs to have distractions nearby for inspiration?
DESK OUTLETS & GROMMETS
To target the workspace and desk area, CableOrganizer® has desk outlets and grommets, as well as desk organizers. Desk outlets provide a handy power source, whether built-in or removable. Desk grommets channel wires through a desk, typically in its center. In the case of built-in desk outlets and desk grommets, a hole needs to be drilled into the desk or table to accommodate it.
DESK ORGANIZERS
Desk organizers are tools that bring calm to cable complexities. The CableOrganizer® desk cable management category features a range of items that accomplish the organizational goal of cable cleanup around a desk. That can be tackled with tools like J channel cable raceways, special channels that hide and protect cables along walls, and under desks. An under desk wire tray keeps desk cables off the floor. The hooks in the tray help to route and break out cables. Some under desk trays like the WireRun® Ballyhoo™ feature plenty of hooks that can be used to wind cords or hang items.
CURATED KITS
There are curated kits, designed especially by the organizing experts at CableOrganizer®. These kits offer a built-in cost savings when all items are purchased together. The PC cable management kit features various routers, braided sleeving, and other bundling tools to sort wires. Desk and office management kits organize various office configurations, from a single desk to numerous workspaces in a small office space. These include braided sleeving, cable clips, hook and loop closures, cable channels, surge protectors, and more. Have a small child who can access the cords around your desk or in your home office? The Child Safety Kit is another stress reducer that comes with wire loom, cable clips, a CableBox, and Cable Turtles, to wind and clean up various cord messes.
CABLE COVERS
Cable cover protection like cord covers keep wires on the floor from becoming trip hazards. Light capacity cord covers can withstand foot traffic, while covering cables. These light duty cord covers hide all types of conspicuous cords, from AC power cables to bulkier indoor extension cords. They come in miscellaneous colors too, to blend into wooden surfaces, different types of flooring, or some types of carpeting. The Safety Yellow is one color that can help draw attention to the area, so you know to avoid it. Cable shield cord covers are comprised of a base and cover that snap together to create a sturdy channel for cables along the floors or walls. These come in colors like black, terracotta, brown, and wood grain, to coordinate with various surfaces. The SideWinder Cable Protection Systems™ covers cables with segments that link up and can round corners in a room, or continue covering cables even when they change direction.
DEVICE STANDS
You can also shop for specialty stands from CableOrganizer® to keep wires neat. Some types elevate devices, to better organize wiring, like the BlueLounge® SocketStation Smart Hub Shelf. This is a spot where a device can sit and charge on top of an outlet, while its plug is underneath. The Mika tablet and laptop stand provides a convenient and streamlined place to rest a device. The BlueLounge® Charging Caddy and DeskDock offer wireless charging along with helpful caddies where office supplies can be conveniently stored. It is also important to keep headphones out of the way and their cables tangle free — the BlueLounge® Posto can handle both.
CHARGING STATIONS
Charging stations and batteries provide another way to neaten wires, and improve the appearance of the clutter they create. Wireless chargers from WireRun® create a place where devices can be charged, without adding to the pile of wires. The Reverie™ Desktop Wireless Charger is compatible with QI-enabled devices. It features a small footprint and glows green while a phone rests on it for a charge. The Fantasy™ Wireless Charger emits a red light that makes it visible even in the dark. The Utopia™ In-Desk Wireless Charger offers built-in charging capacity, with the cord entirely out of view, hidden within the piece of furniture.
IDENTIFICATION LABELS
It is not always just about the neat appearance that cable management products can give wires, but additionally the way they identify cables, should the need arise to maintain or replace them. Label printers and cable identification tags mark wires and cables, to identify or code them.
SURGE PROTECTORS
Surge protectors organize plugs and protect them from power fluctuations. A power surge, blackout, or brownout can all damage electronics. Having a device like a surge protector alleviates stress on one’s emotional health in a different way because equipment that is harmed during an electrical overage or power loss can trigger both time and financial losses if an item ends up needing to be repaired or replaced.
HOOK & LOOP WRAPS & FASTENERS
We have simple solutions as well if you just need wires tidied here and there. Hook and loop wraps and fasteners are uncomplicated and reusable wire organization products that can wrap around bundles of different sizes. Cable ties are a popular and easy way to group and neaten cables. Nylon zip ties are for wire runs that are more permanent than others and have a low likelihood of being moved around. Should wires need to be maintained, nylon cable ties must be cut off to remove them. Releasable cable ties have mechanisms that unlock them, which enables them to be used repeatedly.
BRAIDED SLEEVING
Braided sleeving organizes and tidies harnesses. There are different styles of braided sleeving, including standard sleeving, which keeps wires neat and protected. Techflex® Flexo® Expandable Braided Cable Sleeving can additionally be used for color coding or to provide a particular aesthetic for bundles. There are other types of braided sleeving that work well for longer cable runs, like standard wrap-around sleeving. Flexo® F6® is a popular choice that installs quickly to provide coverage, with a 25% edge overlap to accommodate larger bundles, plugs, and connectors. Metal and shielding sleeving covers and organizes wiring but provides benefits like current transmission with the Copper Braid, and shielding to improve signals with the Flexo® Shield Conductive Cable Sleeving. Flexo® Anti-Stat offers abrasion resistance and shielding for sensitive cables from high frequency electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio frequency interference (RFI), and electrostatic discharge (ESD), that can impact signal clarity and quality.
Shop here for even more cable management products from CableOrganizer®, to keep your desk area organized.
