How to Recognize the Associated Plug for Your Device

If you’re like most of us with a home office, you have at least have a dozen cords plugged into a power strip behind your desk. There’s a cord for your printer, your computer, your monitor and your modem, just to name a few. However, if you want to unplug one cord among this melange, it’s difficult to tell which cord is which. Unplug the wrong one and you could lose data on your computer or have to wait for your modem to reboot. What you need is a way to label your cords without making any more mess behind your desk.

One easy way to keep these cords sorted is to save the square bread ties from your grocery store bread items. Simply write the of the device on the tag and slip it over the associated cord and you’ll never unplug the wrong device again. It’s that easy.

Other computer management tips for your home office

1. Make sure your cords never fall into the abyss behind your desk. Have you ever dropped a cord when you unplugged a computer device, only to have it disappear into the dust and cobwebs behind your desk? You can avoid all of this mess and effort by using binder clips to attach your cords to the edge of your desk. Simply clip the binder clip to your desk, remove the silver “wings” and insert the cords inside them before reattaching the “wings” to the clip. Your cord will stay neatly at the edge of your desk, even when it’s unplugged.

2. Hide your unsightly power strip in a shoe box. Another tip that will help make your desk area look less cluttered is to hide your power strip in a shoe box that you’ve covered with fabric or contact paper. To give you access to the cords, you can poke holes in the side of the box and finish the holes with grommets.

3. Shorten your cables. Most people have much longer computer cables than they really need. After all, most of the time you only need to go from your desk to the floor. Avoid the cord clutter by using plastic cord winders (available at most hardware stores).