Both my home and my work offices tend to get cluttered by things like cables, peripherals, devices, accessories, etc. Below are two simple and cheap office “hacks” I use to help keep my desks somewhat manageable.

The Cord Clip

I keep a couple of these big binder clips attached to the back of my desk in order to hold cords and cables that I want to make sure don’t slide back behind my desk when they’re not attached to something. Since I’m frequently switching between laptops — disconnecting then reconnecting multiple cables — this technique has saved me a huge amount of time and frustration. No more grabbing at cables as they slip away behind the desk, then trying to fish them back up.

I use another one of these clips with my nightstand since I have several cables secured there, as well (phone charger, Kindle charger, and laptop cord).

The Headphone Hook

I don’t know what this thing is called, so I call it the “banana noose” though I suppose it could just as correctly be called the “banana gallows”. It’s simply a device that suspends bunches of bananas in order to keep them from pressing against the kitchen counter and getting prematurely mushy.

An equally good use of the banana noose is a headphone hook. I regularly use two sets of headphones: Audio-Technica QuietPoint noise-canceling headphones for music, and a Logitech Premium Notebook Headset for Skype and audio recording. In order to keep them both close at hand, but also keep them from getting tangled up among the other USB, audio, and power cables on my desk, I simply hang them from a nice chrome banana noose which I stole from the kitchen. Problem solved.

Got any good office hacks you want to share?