I’ve spent years scouring the internet to find inspiring workspaces and home offices—both as a hobby and as part of my job writing about home-office topics for Wirecutter and, previously, Lifehacker. I’ve lurked for hours on sites like Apartment Therapy and the r/battlestations subreddit. And I’ve searched through Flickr members’ desk photos, geeking out on any setup that had a vibe—whether it was a minimalist workspace, a traditional one, or something completely over-the-top tech-wise (like this DIY desk with a computer built into it).
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In the two decades that I’ve been working remotely—writing about productivity and remote work—my own home office has constantly evolved as I’ve pursued that “just right” workspace dream. I’ll probably never stop revamping my desk, but I’m finally happy with its current layout because it supports my workflow (for now) and keeps clutter to a minimum.
Here’s what I use to keep an organized workspace. These are not all Wirecutter picks, but they are the items I need to maintain order at my desk.
A lot of my daily notes include things such as what my family wants to order for takeout or a reference number for a call I need to make. Instead of wasting paper, I use the Quartet Glass Desktop Dry-Erase Easel for these impermanent bits of info. I like that I can stand it up to use as a clipboard, but most of the time, the whiteboard lies flat on the right side of my desk. It’s almost cathartic to purge random notes and have a clean slate at the end of the day.
Messy cables and an abundance of computer accessories are a distracting eyesore. The easiest way to keep cables under control is to gather them together using ties or straps. I use the hook-and-loop kind—specifically, the thin Velcro One-Wrap Cable Ties—because, unlike zip ties, they’re adjustable and reusable, which makes adding or removing cables easy. I also use these ties to shorten a cord that’s too long: I simply wrap the cable in a couple of loops and then tie (this works for managing cables when I’m on the go, too).
My desk sadly lacks drawers, so for other odds and ends (including computer accessories that don’t absolutely need to be on my desk), I use wall space. I’m a big fan of the medium Cocoon Grid-It Organizer for holding and organizing items in my purse, backpack, or travel case. But I love this organizer best when it’s hanging by my desk on a strong, stick-on hook. It keeps small items—such as a USB flash drive, hand moisturizer, and a microfiber cloth—within reach but doesn’t take up desk real estate. Bonus: The organizer is easy to take along—I can just grab and go.
Cables can be unruly, even when they’re not in use: When I would unplug my laptop to go work somewhere else, for example, the power cord and the other cables would sometimes fall off the desk. To the rescue: the humble, ever-versatile binder clip. I have the binder clip attached to the edge of my desk at the back, with the power cord and cable for my USB hub running through the opening. It keeps those cables in place and off the floor when I’m not using my laptop at the desk.
One cable I don’t worry about is the one for my charger. Instead, I use a wireless charger that doubles as a stand and pen holder. The Veelink Bamboo Wireless Charger with Organizer is solidly built, and I especially like how it blends in perfectly with my Jarvis bamboo standing desk. A wireless charger is one of those things I didn’t realize I needed until I bought it, and this is one of the nicest-looking desk accessories I’ve come across.
I am an ardent fan of the Traveler’s Notebook for planning tasks, journaling, and note-taking. It’s slim enough to have a permanent spot on my desk or to carry in my purse, and the leather cover feels luxurious. And this notebook is infinitely customizable because of the many refillable inserts that are available. I use the ruled insert for notes, the monthly insert for broad project planning, and the weekly insert for managing my to-dos and recording progress on habits I’m working on.
One day I hope to reach next-level journaling and planner artistry like other Traveler’s Notebook owners. But for now, this is probably the one thing on my desk, besides my , that I would grab if my house caught on fire.
I used to have a full-size paper scanner that could handle multiple sheets at a time, but I gave it away after buying this mobile scanner. While that one is no longer available, my Wirecutter colleagues recommend the similarly sized Brother DS-940DW, which offers the bonus of duplex (double-sided) scanning. A small scanner is easy to use for my occasional scanning needs (reducing paper clutter), and it doesn’t take up much desk space because I’ve attached it to the underside of my desk with heavy-duty fasteners. I can detach the scanner when I need it—but surprisingly, scanning upside down works, too.
A paper shredder is on my short list of must-haves for a home office, because so many papers may contain sensitive, personal information—everything from my number to my Social Security number. After testing eight shredders, I decided on the Amazon Basics 6-Sheet Micro-Cut Shredder for my home office because of its budget-friendly price, high security, and compact design. It’s about the size of a typical small wastebasket, so it also fits nicely under my desk.
Another utilitarian item I bought for my desk was the leather-like Wayber Dual-Sided Desk Pad. I previously thought that a desk pad (or mat) was unnecessary for most people—if you have a good-looking desk, why cover it? But after seeing one of my friend’s desks, I realized how functional and beautiful this cheap desk accessory was. It protects my desk from spills and lets me put down sweaty water glasses anywhere, so I no longer have to precisely place cups on a coaster. My mouse moves more smoothly on it. And, perhaps most important, the mat creates a pleasant visual that makes me at least feel more organized and tidy.
If you spend a lot of hours at your desk, it’s worth taking the time to reconsider your arrangement, to move things around, and to get the items that will keep you organized and feeling good all day long.
This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.
Need a few desk organization ideas to whip your messy workspace into shape? Whether it’s a desk in your home or you’re back to working at the office, it’s easy for your desk mess to get a little out of control. Today I’m sharing my favorite desk organizing ideas from tips on corralling your desk cords to organizing desk drawers, taking charge of paper clutter, and more. Let’s get to it… (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here})
In our previous home we had a second workspace in our family room where we added a built-in desk to the open space between our bookcases. It’s such a nice place to work because of the view out the window (and good lighting for Zoom calls ????) and because our family room has a door that allows us to close it off from the rest of the house when needed. It became Jeff’s daily work-from-home spot for the last year that we lived here:
When we first put this desk space to use, our desktop was a cluttered mess of cords with a power strip sitting on top of it. Our solution for corralling the cord clutter was to buy {this wall mount power strip} which has four regular outlets plus four USB outlets. We mounted it under the desktop high enough up that all you see is the cords stretching down to the outlet below it.
It comes with small screws that I used to mount ours but if you don’t want to add any holes {these Command picture hanging strips} should also do the trick!
Mounting a power strip would work with most traditional freestanding desks too – the desk just needs to have some type of “lip” around the edge to keep it out of sight. If needed, you can use {these Command cord clips} to run the power strip cord along the inside edge of your desk to get it close to an outlet to plug into and to keep any extra lengths of cord tucked up where you can’t see them.
One last idea to help tame cord clutter and have a more organized desk is to use an electronics charging station. We have USB outlets inside of one of our kitchen drawers that we use for charging but after I got an Apple Watch and two of us got AirPods for Christmas, we needed more charging space. I bought {this charging station} and it’s been awesome. We can charge a set of AirPods, an Apple Watch, iPad and up to 3 phones at once:
Most charging stations don’t include the charging cords or actual USB charger but this one includes everything you need except the Apple Watch charger (which comes with the watch). It’s a nice small size and it keeps all of the cord clutter inside the charging station where you can’t see it:
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so the desktop in between the shelves in our home office stays nice and neat:
Sources: Gold ceiling light | Rug | Desk (similar) | Wingback chair (similar) | Gray storage boxes – IKEA | Sunburst mirror | Pagoda – HomeGoods | Curved basket (similar) | Bust planter – thrifted
Another favorite desk organization idea is to tame the clutter in your drawers using drawer dividers/bins. They are key for getting your drawers organized and KEEPING your drawers neat and organized too. An organized drawer = more storage space! My main “desk” drawer in our previous home was actually in our kitchen island. Both of our deep top island drawers have a secondary shallow drawer within them and I use one for wraps, foils, and baggies and the other for my desk supplies – it’s basically my hidden kitchen command center:
Sources: Counter stools | Pendant lights | Vases – no longer available | see our kitchen remodel before and after post for details and sources
I used {these Poppin desk organizers} to divide the space up so that everything in my desk has a home. The beauty of it is that when you’re returning something to the drawer, it goes right back in its designated spot and keeps things neat – I organized this drawer over a year ago and other than needing to spend some time cleaning out extra papers in my file folders it looks pretty much the same as the day I first organized it:
Other Source Links: 12″ Golden champagne drawer pulls | Acrylic post-it holder | Stapler & tape dispenser | Gold scissors (similar)
I have a full post on this hidden kitchen command center that you can check out if you want more details.
I organized the desk drawer in our home office with drawer dividers too, using a set of drawer organizers similar to {these}. The set has a variety of sizes that I was able to play around with until I found a good arrangement to fill up almost the whole drawer:
And here’s my trick to keep my dividers from shifting toward the back of the drawer when it’s opened and closed – I adhere a few round cord Command clips to the bottom of the drawer so that they’re up tight against the back dividers and lock them in place:
It looks like they might not make these exact cord clips anymore but {these clear clips} work well for the task too! Another option is to use an expandable drawer divider like {this one} along the back of your dividers if your drawer isn’t too wide (most dividers don’t expand past 22″). You could also stick some of {this removable museum gel} on the bottom of your organizers.
It’s unreasonable to expect to have every single piece of paper neatly put away at all times it’s not in use so another desk organization idea I rely on is using trays. They are the easiest and quickest way to corral clutter and look stylish doing it! I have trays for cooking essentials next to our stove, coffee table accessories in our family and living rooms, and office supplies on our home office desk.
My desk tray holds a decorative box (with paper clips, a pen, flash drive, & my scanner cord),
my calendar, tape dispenser, file folder with papers I’m working on, and my handheld scanner (more on my scanner in just a bit!):
At the end of the day, I simply round up all the papers that litter my desk and put them in the file folder on my tray. My exact tray isn’t available anymore but here are some other rectangular trays that would be good choices for corralling your desktop clutter in the prettiest of ways:
Sources: 1. Tava rattan tray | 2. Water hyacinth serving tray | 3. Gold tray (similar) | 4. Scalloped edge tray | 5. Blue wood serving tray | 6. Handled rattan tray (similar) | 7. Ash wood tray | 8. Blue eco tray
To me, the hardest part of desk organization is taming the paper clutter because it can become overwhelming so quickly. Papers generally fall into one of these three categories – (1) papers you need to act on or do something with, (2) papers that you no longer need, and (3) papers that you need to keep for the future (like tax documents).
For the papers you need to act on or do something with it’s pretty simple – either do what you need to do with them or file them in a to-do file you check daily (I keep mine in the kitchen desk drawer I shared earlier). For papers that you no longer need, don’t let them pile up to the point that they overwhelm you – shred or recycle them daily. And for papers that you need to keep for the future, SCAN them!
I bought {this handheld scanner} a few years back and it has helped SO much with organizing our paperwork and eliminating paper clutter. I don’t even need to leave my desk chair to use it, I simply hook it up to my laptop and scan the papers through.
The beauty of it is that I can then get rid of all that paperwork! For things like taxes, Jeff and I have a shared Google Drive folder that we upload our scanned papers to. We’ve also gotten better about saving online documents into our shared folders instead of printing them and filing them like we used to.
Just be sure to always keep your laptops/computers backed up! Make this your new year’s resolution if you don’t do this already – I’ve tried several services and Backblaze (more details {here}) is my favorite. My laptop is backed up daily without me having to do a thing and it’s easy for me to access any files I’d need if my laptop was broken or lost.
Since mail is such a huge contributor to paper clutter, also be sure to check out my post on a simple mail organizer where I share all of my tips from lessening the amount of junk mail you get in the first place to sorting and clearing out your incoming mail pile each day.
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