Cable management is hell.
Unless you have five hours and a dozen cable stickies to route them and work out perfect lengths, it's going to be a disaster. And then it'll be ruined next week anyway.
Some assorted tips.
Bundling multiple cables
The goal with bundling is to lock multiple cables in place together so there's less individual cables floating around and they can't tangle with eachother. Good for complicated permanent setups like the inside of a PC.
Zip ties are effective, but not adjustable, not reusable, and annoying both to add and remove, so you have to be very sure before you use them.
Little wire twist ties, like many cables are packaged with, are alright for a quick fix or if you need a small footprint. However, they're fiddly to work with and get increasingly twisted over time, so they aren't ideal for everyday use. If you keep needing to undo a bundle, you probably shouldn't be bundling.
Storing cables
For short cables get a little bag of some variety and call it a day, they won't behave no matter what you do.
For long cables always wrap the cable in a loop, don't fold it back and forth. The loop keeps it from tangling with itself.
With long enough cables they can secure themselves by wrapping the last loop's worth of cable around the inside, but it's a bit unstable. Preferably, secure the loop either by wrapping around both sides of the loop with something large.
Rubber bands or hair ties work for wrapping around both sides, but are prone to stretching over time.
Wrapping one side is doable if you only have something short, but the other side is prone to flopping around so it's not ideal. Better than nothing since it will stop tangling with other cables, it's just messy.
Velcro cable ties are the gold standard here since they are long enough to fully wrap around even the largest cable loop and don't have loose ends.
Shortening cables
In a permanent setup this is essentially the same as storing cables, loop and wrap to keep secured. This is primarily a mitigation method, while crossing cables will always make a mess, shortening with loops will at least reduce the number of crossings between other cables and limit any tangles in the same cable. Always leave a bit of slack after the loops since otherwise they will get distorted and difficult to undo.
The one additional consideration is that loops with the ends going out opposite sides are adjustable (you can slip out one loop's worth of cable by pulling on either end), while loops with the ends going out the same side are not. Either may be desirable depending on your setup.
For two part cables (e.g. a laptop charger with a central brick), it's ideal to only shorten one side, but which will depend on cable length and your setup. It's usually easier to wrap the thin "laptop" side cable, but if the additional length is needed it may be ideal to wrap the "power" side cable and keep it with the brick resting by the outlet, stretching out the laptop side instead.
Velcro cable ties are still good here since you can secure one side of the tie to the cable and it'll never get lost while adjusting. For cables you unplug or carry everyday though, I prefer silicon cable ties. They aren't as adjustable as velcro, but the ergonomics of popping them on and off is easier than fiddling with velcro and can still be attached to the cable so you don't lose it.
Really though, the ideal is to buy the shortest cables you can get away with.
- Rew
Nightly Notes
The best cable management is no cable management.
Standardization is an argument for another day though.
I'm not thrilled with this one, I couldn't pin down a reasonable way to organize it. I was just going to talk about kinds of cable ties because silicon ties are under appreciated, and then it expanded.
I'll untangle it later, I swear.
- Rew