Tips To Decluttering Your Messy Workspace

Due to recent events, many of us have been forced to work from home. I too had to upgrade my home office in order to accomodate my WFH needs, but I still found it difficult to focus and didn't feel like I was in the right working environment. After researching ways to improving focus, I discovered having a clean and tidy workspace can influence your mood and productivity. After adopting some changes, I found that it really worked and I wanted to share some tips on how to make your workspace super tidy and clean.

1. Keeping Objects Off The Desk

One of the easiest ways to clean up your desk is to keep objects off your desk. I purchased some mounts to hide objects like headphones and controllers.

Headphone Mount

I really love this mount. It's super simple, yet an elegant solution to keep your headphones tucked away when you don't need to use it. It's simple to install and instantly improves the aesthetic of your workstation. You just need to attach the adhesive side to your desk and you're done. No need to install any screws or drill holes into your desk. The one I purchased can hold up to 2 headphones. I suspect people won't have more than 2 headphones anyways.

Here's a picture of how it looks under my desk.

Controller Mount

Similarly, you can install a mount for your gaming controllers. This is great for keeping your controllers off your desk when you don't need to use them. I mounted this behind my monitor, but alternatively you can mount it to your wall. Just like the headphones mount, you just apply the mount to any surface using the adhesive.

Both of these can be 3d printed yourself. You'll need to buy your own mounting strips, but it's cheaper than buying the whole thing yourself.

Hiding Things with Storage

I'm currently using a Vanity Storage Box to hold small objects like cables, pens, in-ear headphones, and other various objects.

The Storage Box I linked to has 3 trays. I tried to dedicate each tray to a certain theme.

The first one holds writing utensils.

The second one primarily holds objects I use time to time like cables.

The third one is for holding my music accessories like my iPod and other wireless earbuds. Yes I still use an iPod.

If you need to store larger objects, you can go for a Storage Drawer that sits on the floor.

Monitor and Microphone Mount

I personally don't use a monitor mount, but I definitely recommend using a mount if you have more than one monitor since you'll end up with more than one monitor stand on the desk. Amazon has a bunch of good monitor mounts like the Echogear Triple Monitor Mount or this Amazon Double Arm Monitor Mount. Make sure to double check how much weight the mount can hold. You can purchase a boom arm for your microphone to keep it off your desk. The cool thing about these boom arms is that you can hide the microphone when you're not using it. Check out this video at the 3:22 mark for a good example.

2. Good Cable Hygiene

Cable management is one of the most important aspects to maintaining a clean and organized setup. Cable management can literally improve the aesthetic of your setup instantly. Even though most of your cables will be underneath your desk, it will still influence the layout of cables on above your desk. I initially used a Cable Box to try to hide as much as possible, but you can tell how much of an eyesore it was. My first setup looked like this.

Approach #1: Using a Cable Raceway

For this setup, I used a Cable Raceway to tuck any dangling cables and hide them from the sight. The raceway has 3m masking tape on the backside so you can tape it to literally anything. I ended up sticking it onto my wall, but you can also attach it to the bottom of your desk. While not perfect, it's definitely an improvement and much more pleasant to look at.

Approach #2: Using a Cable Tray

For my second setup, I ended up using a cable tray since it's much easier to use compared to a Raceway. You can put cable extension cords, power bricks, and a lot more objects compared to a raceway. There are a lot of great options to choose from on Amazon like the Monoprice Cable Tray. I'm personally using the Autonomous Ai Cable Tray since that's the official one for my desk.

Approach #3: Using a Cable Box

This approach is a bit harder to get right since you can't exactly manage all the cables below your desk, but it makes it easier to hide a bunch of cords inside your box. I found it really useful if you can have the box out of sight like under a bed (which is what I'm currently doing). I also threw a bunch of power bricks inside as storage.

The Essential Accessory: Velcro Ties

Velcro Ties will be your best friend to keep your cables nice and tidy. I mainly use them to wrap a bunch of cables together so my cables don't end up like spaghetti and all over the place.

Feel free to use any of these tools to your setup. There is no right or wrong answer on how to manage your cables as long as you're happy with the results. I recommend watching this tutorial on cable management to see what other techniques you can use.

3. Using Wireless Peripherals

One of the easiest ways to keep cords off your desk is to use wireless peripherals.

Wireless Mouse

I had a bunch of wrist pain in the past and I ended up buying a lot more ergonomic gear to alleviate some of that pain. To my surprise, it actually worked. I previously used the Logitech M570 which is the cheaper and less premium model of Logitech MX Ergo Wireless Mouse (which is in the picture below). Having bluetooth and an internal battery is much more convenient than having to buy a bunch of AA batteries.

Wireless Qi Charger

I prefer using wireless chargers even though they're slower at charging because Qi chargers are so universal these days. I can use the same charger to charge my headphones, my iPhone, my Pixel, etc. This also simplifies your charging setup since you'll just need one Qi charger instead of 4 different charging cables.

4. Keeping a consistent theme

Don't Go Overboard With Props

Props like toys and action figures can add character to your workspace, but there's a point where too many can be chaotic. I was super guilty of this too. In my previous setups, I had so many funkos, legos, and toys on my desk to the point where I didn't have room for anything else.

Try To Keep a Consistent Color Scheme

For my setup, I wanted a white and mint theme, but it's pretty hard to find mint colored accessories so I tried to use white peripherals where I could. Most of the times it's impossible to buy stuff in the same color. To get around this, you can wrap your stuff in vinyl. If you search for "white vinyl wrap" you can find a bunch of wraps that you can use. I also linked a Youtube video that shows how you can install it.

Conclusion

All in all, I felt like tidying up my workspace really improved my mood while working at home. The clean and aesthetic atmosphere made it much more relaxing while I worked. That being said, don't get frustrated if your setup isn't what you imagined. It took me many iterations until I got something that I personally was happy with. What improvements have you made to your workspace? Let me know in the comments section below.