I hate cables, and I hate disorganisation.

I write, design and think best in a well-organised, tidy and distraction-free space. Recently, I posted my admiration for Basic Apple Guy’s outstanding cable management.

Find a Single Cable. I Dare You. — Basic Apple Guy

Manage your cables or they’ll manage you. A lil look into how I cable manage my Mac Studio setup.

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His example inspired me. I’ve always been “keen” on cable management, and after reading his post, it was clear I needed to up my game.

Behold: my now much tidier, clutter- and cable-free desk.

Beyond cable management, I decided to reduce the number of devices and things on my desk. While I am a huge fan of managing notifications through Focus modes, having my phone and my (beloved) iPad mini charging on the desk distracted me. They had to go! (They now charge and lurk outside my direct eyeline.)

What’s On My Desk

I’ve streamlined my desktop setup. The notable things remaining on my Ikea Bekant standing desk include:

• A Studio Display with tilt- and height-adjustable stand
• A M1 Mac Mini (16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD; recently downgraded from a M1 Mac Studio)
• A Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad
• A Magic Trackpad
• A 28-button Stream Deck
• A M2 Macbook Air (24 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD)

• Grovemade Shelf
• Raico Desk Tray (Grovemade alternative organiser)
• Various notebooks and pencils
• Cthulhu

Closing Thoughts

My desk is not always this tidy. While I’m heroically wearing my fingers to the bone over a hot keyboard, I have various notebooks open, a cup of coffee on the go and—probably—a gaming book or two open for reference.

However, this is the view that greets me in the morning. No distractions—a clean slate. Lovely.