Vocation, hobby, consumer – chances are you will amass a collection of cables for the technology in your life. I finally had enough with the ever-evolving disorganized, tangled mess. Here’s my Cable Organization Life Pro Tip to optimize storage space, as well as the level of effort needed to locate the cable you need, when you need it.
Inspiration: Document Filing Systems
Used by essentially every business and organization, and the majority of people, document filing systems are a great system for storing, locating, and referencing. Being able to locate and store all those cables with the same efficiency sure would be nice; however, those cords and cables don’t stack neatly like paper. Never one to accept defeat when pursuing my vision, I altered how I perceived a cord’s shape. A 3-dimensional rectangular prism with a near-zero depth, essentially a 2-dimensional rectangle allows Paper to stack neatly; on the other hand, cables, primitively speaking, are 3-dimensional cylinders. If cables could be encapsulated in a rectangular prism, they would be stackable. So, how do we efficiently, and cheaply, make our cables rectangular prisms?
Card-Backed Storage Bags, That’s How
Quart-sized storage bags are pretty much the optimal size for almost any cable, simply coil the cord and place it in the bag – no cable straps required. A 5″x8″ index card not only fits perfectly, preventing the bag from coiling over but also fulfills the need for labels in your filing system. By adding some deep, expanding hanging file folders allows for easy categorization and space-efficient storage in a filing box or crate.
Cable Organization Box Supplies
- Slide Closing, Self Standing, Quart Sized Storage Bags (Amazon Listing)
- 5″x8″ Index Cards (Amazon Listing)
- 3.5″ Expanding Hanging File Folders (Amazon Listing)
- Stackable File Crates (Amazon Listing)