Now that temperatures have finally crept beyond 40 (just barely), I am looking ahead to April when I go into total spring cleaning mode. With my home office and workspace area littered with Post-It notes, pens that don’t work and lots and lots of cords, that’s the first place on my list to organize.
We’ve covered so many great tech organization products and techcessories, many of which I plan to implement into my own spring organization revamp. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Clean up your desk
Making a “home” for everything on your desk can make organization so simple, and stylish too.
This Belvedere Paper Tray is a stylish way to keep all those errant pieces of paper categorized and organized. Read it and then file it can become my new mantra with these pretty trays.
Above, the colorful Galison Pencil Cups not only add bright splashes of color, but let you have a place for all the little knickknacks on your desk like paper clips, a stapler and those pens you’re always searching for when you’re on the phone.
2. Untangle the cord nests
Remember those cords I was talking about? These favorite products will definitely put them in their place.
Using Dotz Cord Labels has been so helpful for wading through the mass of cords that congregate behind my desk–and knowing which plugs in where.
For neatness on top of the desk as opposed to behind it, I love Applecore cord products for keeping cords organized and wound up.
Cut the messiness off at the source and streamline your power cord situation with this multi-use Belkin MiniSurge charger with built-in USB ports.
And if you need a surge protector with more outlets, at least use one like this Pivot Power that adapts to your space and keeps all the cords compact.
3. Streamline your docks and chargers
Another option is just to get rid of wires altogether. Well, where you can. These streamlined charging options let you do just that.
The Chisel charging dock not only lets you have a place for your phone, but for the cord too. The wood styling adds a touch of class for on-the-desk decor.
Charging stations are also great for letting you charge multiple items at once without all their cords cluttering your desk. We’ve mentioned plenty of favorites, but one of our top recos for both function and style is the Belkin Powermat, above.
4. Clean your gadgets
There are a couple options we recommend for keeping your gadgets clean, whether you want to go the high-tech or low-tech route.
For high-tech, we love the CleanWave Sanitizing Wand that magically disinfects anything you wave it over. Cool!
For the low-tech option, options like handy Windex Electronics Wipes or the GoSwype antibacterial microfiber cloth are easy and completely portable for cleaning on-the-go.
5. Back up your documents and photos!
Now that your desk area is organized and clean, don’t neglect cleaning up your computer desktop as well. Back up all the important documents and photos and delete to make space for new data. There are so many options now for storing information on the cloud.
For those precious photos in particular, I’m a huge fan of Shutterfly for its unlimited cloud storage and mobile app.
And for photos and everything else, you can’t go wrong with Amazon Cloud Drive, Dropbox or Google Drive. And best of all, most of these are free for the first 5 GBs.
6. Cut down on paper
To stave off the clutter, prevent it from accumulating in the first place. Especially when it’s so easy to digitize so much of it.
For all those receipts, papers, bills and paper clutter, get them into your computer and off your desk with handy desktop scanners from NeatReceipts and Doxie.
Fax a lot? HelloFax is one of our go-tos for online fax management.
If you’re a coupon clipper, try coupon apps like Red Laser to limit it all to your smartphone instead of an envelope on your desk.
There are even super apps for organizing kids’ artwork which a lot of us have around our desks. They mainly require little more than photographing and filing, a great tactic long after those macaroni art projects and early crayon drawings have yellowed.
7. Deck your walls
Need to create more desk space? Simple. Move stuff off your desk and onto your walls, stylishly.
We have to mention this gorgeous wall butler for keeping some bascis off your desk and housed comfortably in what looks like a beautiful piece of wall art.
And if you still like to go old school with your calendars, the Wall Pops Calendar Decals are a must-have for any organized office (or kitchen or living room or family room). Since you fill in the months and days yourself, they can be used over and over again, year after year, and best of all the whole family and all your caregivers have access to them at any time. No passwords required.