Five ways to get your desk cables under control

A tidy desk is mostly a cable problem. None of this needs new furniture — just a decision about where each cable is allowed to live.

1. Cut the count first

Before organising anything, unplug what you have not used in a month. Most desks lose two or three cables at this step alone.

2. Give charging one address

Phone, watch and earbuds charging in three different corners means three cables crossing the desk. A single dock with routed channels turns that into one cable going to the wall.

3. Route along an edge, not across the middle

Cables that run along the back edge of the desk stay invisible. Cables that cross open surface get snagged every time you move a laptop.

4. Leave slack where you move things

The monitor arm and the laptop need room to move; the printer does not. Tie those down tightly and leave a loop of slack on anything you reposition.

5. Hide the brick, not just the wire

Power bricks are the ugliest part and the easiest to solve — a shallow tray or box under the desk holds the strip and the adapters, so only the outgoing cables are visible.

Do these in order and it takes about twenty minutes. The difference is mostly in what you stop seeing.