By Laura Schluckebier from HackCollege
I have many pet peeves about dorms. This is actually turns out to be a good thing since I figure out ways to solve my them and write posts about them for you guys. My latest pet peeve that has culminated into me finally finding a solution has been cords and wires. As much as I love having all of my gadgety things nearby, I hate, hate, hate groping around on the floor trying to find the correct cord to go with each device. Where is my iPod cord? Nope, that's my phone charger. Nope, that's my laptop cord. Nope, that's my harddrive cord. Simply put, it's a pain in the ass and I know that I can't be the only out there that has this frustration.
I would love to say that I came up with this idea all by myself, but I actually modified my solution from an organization technique that my brother uses. He gets bulldog clips and clips them on to the edge of his desk and then threads his cords through the metal parts so that they are perfectly and readily available for use. I believe this picture was the source of his inspiration and is essentially what his desk looks like.
I know. It's genius. Anyways, after the cut, check out how I modified this little trick to fit my bedside table.
Unfortunately, my bedside table doesn't have very good edges around the top of it for bulldog clips to grasp. I thought about how to remedy the situation for a couple days before I came up with a solution. Duct tape. If you cannot solve your problem with duct tape, it's not a problem worth solving. Fact of life.
Here's what I did. I used some twisty ties that had secured a newly purchased device in its protective plastic case in place of the metal squeeze-things (that is the official term) of the bulldog clips. I bent them to look like a U (or a C depending on how you look at it) and then placed the two ends on the bedside table and left the rounded part off to the side of the bedside table. Before securing it with duct tape, I just threaded the end of my cords through each looped twisty tie, made sure that the loop was small enough that the cord ends didn't slip out and volia. I now have a fabulous way to make sure that I don't have to go searching for cords. If you don't have twisty ties laying around, there are easy ways to find something to work. Twisty ties come with loaves of bread. But if you don't feel like buying a loaf just for a twisty, just get a few bulldog clips and break off the metal parts and duct tape those to your bedside table/desk/desired location. Below is a picture of how the whole thing turned out. And because visual aides help in this case.
Now this method of organizing your cords work if you're not moving your cords around a whole lot. If you're constantly moving your chargers, the security of duct tape isn't really going to help you if you're having to untape your clever solution everyday. You have a couple of options. The first is that you could just make the loops around your cords bigger so that it's easier for you to slip the cord ends in and out. However, doing this might cause your cord ends to fall out when you don't want them to. But with a little trial and error, you can easily perfect this method.
Your second option is to use hooks. I love 3M hooks. They are so useful and amazing and I've found so many problems I can solve with these little hooks. Anyways, if your bed is near a wall, put a hook up somewhere that's comfortable to reach. Now just hang your cord over the hook and bam. Instant cord holder.
If you're less hook-enthused and have soft walls, you can simply stick a thumbtack in the wall and use this as your cord holder. It's the method my brother uses and it seems to work for him.
Think you have some great cord management skills? Maybe you should submit to be our featured desk space of the week!