9 Easy Desk Setup Fixes for a Tidier, Calmer Workspace

If your workspace has turned into a dumping ground for cables, crumbs, and chaos, don’t worry. These nine easy fixes will help you reclaim your desk, clear your head, and maybe even enjoy sitting down to work again.

1. Do a surface sweep

Clear everything off your desk. Yes, everything. Wipe it down, then only put back what you actually use every day. That dried-up pen? Bin it. That fourth notebook? It can live in a drawer.

2. Add a small tray (or bowl, or box)

A shallow container gives your bits and bobs a home: headphones, SD cards, paperclips, random coins. If it’s in the tray, it’s not clutter.

A minimal white desk setup with a WOODCESSORIES wooden tray — The minimalist WOODCESSORIES wooden tray helps Italian UI/UX designer Mariano keep his desk tidy

3. Hide your charging chaos

Cable spaghetti is the enemy of a clear mind. Use adhesive cable clips, a simple under-desk tray, or even a shoebox with holes punched in the back to corral chargers and cords. (Bonus: it looks like you have your life together.)

4. Swap your lamp for one that sparks joy

A good desk lamp doesn’t just light up your space — it sets the tone. Choose one that makes you smile when you see it. Go sculptural, go vintage, go IKEA.

A tidy workspace setup with ergonomic chair, warm lighting, plants, and a framed Batman poster on the wall — Robert McCombe, a content creator from the UK, keeps his home office feeling warm and inviting by mixing a few types of ambient lighting

5. Let your monitor breathe

Push your monitor back and centre it. This one move can make your whole setup look more intentional. Bonus points if you give the stand a quick wipe while you’re at it.

6. Go vertical

Use your wall: floating shelves, pegboards, or even adhesive hooks. Get things off your surface and into easy reach without creating clutter.

A tall, vertically built home office nook with a laptop desk and cream reading chair by the window — Rochelle McNally from the US made the most of the vertical space in her small home office with a wall-mounted desk and shelves that go nearly all the way up to the ceiling

7. Use one focal item

A framed print, a pegboard, a plant, or a tidy stack of two books. Just one visual anchor can turn your setup from meh to curated.

The visual centre of Christine Maggi’s desk setup in San Francisco is a handmade pom pom tassel garland hanging on the wall — everything else in the space is arranged with a sense of symmetry around it

8. Rethink your desk mat

Worn out or never cleaned? Swap it for a fresh one or go without for a cleaner look. A good desk mat frames your workspace, so make sure it earns its place.

9. Give yourself a daily 2-minute tidy

The trick isn’t staying tidy once. It’s building a habit. At the end of your workday, take two minutes to reset your space. Tomorrow-you will be grateful.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

A practical guide to building better habits and breaking bad ones by focusing on small, incremental changes that compound over time. The book explores how environment, identity, and systems shape our behaviour more than willpower alone.

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