You can take control of those wires, cables, and cords, and organize them so that they look streamlined and are much easier to access. Some solutions for organizing cables and cords for electronic devices are packaged—just swing by any home improvement or organization store and you're bound to find plenty in the $5 to $20 range. (You can find many more tips about organization and productivity in my ebook "Get Organized: How to Clean Up Your Messy Digital Life" available via Ganxy and other ebook retailers.)
Many of the other solutions are extremely simple do-it-yourself projects that require small purchases from the hardware store or simply reusing existing household items, like bread bag closures, zip ties, toilet paper rolls, and binder clips. I'll share some of my favorites here.
Watch Out For…
Any time you're working with electrical power sources, keep an eye out for potential fire hazards. Make sure you're never putting paper or other flammable materials close to an electrical outlet. Be mindful of solutions that put cords under too much stress, which could cause them to break or fray (for example, don't run cables under a carpet, and never wind or bend consumer cables repeatedly or too tightly). And of course, unless you're a certified electrician do not mess around with your home's electrical circuitry; this article only refers to consumer-level cables and cords, not electrical wiring.
Make Use Of…
Do utilize non-visible surfaces, such as the back edge of a desk, the underside of a table, and so forth, to streamline the look for your cables and cords as you organize them. Wires and cables don't have a right-side up, so you can often tuck them out of sight in unusual positions. Some of the images in the slideshow illustrate how.
