This simple USB cable accessory helps me reclaim hours of my time

Being a tech editor and reviewer, I’ve dealt with decades worth of devices. That’s all well and good but the result is that I’ve accumulated an awful lot of cables that have ended up in a giant tangled heap. I’m talking about a thicket so dense and entwined it could rival the Amazon rainforest’s most inaccessible parts.

The cables that make up this pile come in a variety of types, from USB-A to USB-C cords, power cords, HDMI cables and chargers — and, with many having no distinguishing feature other than the size of their connectors, it can be incredibly frustrating and time consuming trying to tell them apart. Clearly, I’m in desperate need of a fix — and thankfully — I’ve found one.

My aha! moment with USB cables

My aha moment came when I stumbled on these cable cord identifiers from Amazon. Now I feel kind of sheepish admitting that the solution to my problem was so simple and staring me in the face, costing as little as $7, and available for delivery within just a few days.

Yep, I’ve started affixing them to just about every new USB cable that I get — as well as retrospectively to the cables in the pile I created, and already I’m starting to see a level of organization and clarity in my workspace that I never thought possible before.

These handy tags come in a variety of colors so I can color code my cables by type. The labels are big enough for me to write not only the device they are for, but what they do, so I can choose the right cable type in a jiffy. They’re both self-adhesive and waterproof, and laser printer friendly too.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

Apart from just bringing order to the mess, I’m happy that my devices are in a lot less danger of being damaged by me when I use the wrong cables with them.

Now that I’m labelling cables, I’m ditching my old inefficient ways where I could easily sink an hour or more into finding the right one. Sometimes the simplest solutions can make the biggest impact in your life, so I’m watching out for other life hacks like this one to streamline my workday and my time. I wholeheartedly encourage you to do the same.

Further reading: Buying a USB-C cable? 6 gotchas to watch out for