Cleaning Electronic Clutter: Making Your At-Home Office Safer for Small Children
Working from home can be an enriching and rewarding experience. But it usually comes with a clutter of electrical cords and gadgets, a spider web of cords to roll around and suck on, and monitors and gadgets to pull at and bite. These can all be a huge hazard for your young ones.
Here are a few tips for you working parents to maintain everything you need for work without having to worry about your children’s safety.
Cords
Even a couple of cords hanging around can attract curious little mouths and fingers, but there are quite a few ways to keep them tidied up and out of reach.
Corrals that attach to the underside of desks can keep the cords bundled and off the floor, or a small box with inline handles to set on the floor will work as well. Bundle the cords in the basket and run the wires out of the handles. A small basket with handles would work for on top of a desk or counter.
Once you have your cord collector, it is time to reign in the cords going from the collector to the outlets and gadgets. Attach a power strip to the underside of the desk, or on the inside of the desk leg, so that you only have one wire running to the wall outlet. You can also use command hooks on the back of the desk to keep wires running together, and then bundle and tape them down the desk leg and baseboard to the outlet or power strip.
Extra cords that are not being used at the moment can be coiled and stored in a shoe rack hanging from the inside of a closet door.
Use twist ties (or Velcro ties for bigger bunches) to keep cords coiled. I have seen zip ties suggested, and they certainly work well but cannot be adjusted once set. You can also slip an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll over the coiled cords to keep them from coming apart. Remember not to wind up your wires too tightly or it will damage the insulation around the wires. Just a loose coil will do nicely.
Office Equipment
Having printers, computer towers, and fax machines. Sitting on the floor can not only create a fire hazard from the heat generated (on carpet especially), but can also be an injury risk for small children. It puts cords in easy reach, and upright equipment can easily be tipped over and land on children.
A hanging canvas organizer with pockets can hang on your wall near your desk. This is a perfect place to put smaller, less used items to free up room on your desk for items on the floor. Also consider getting a wall rack mount for monitors. Hanging computer monitors on the wall will free up even more desk room.
If there is just not room on your desk, grab an inexpensive bookshelf to place equipment and office supplies to keep them off the floor and organized. Desks with pull out shelves also work wonders.
Every at-home working parent needs the peace of mind that their children are safe in the office with you while you are working, and following these steps can help provide that peace.
Author Byline Veronica Mason uses her passion for education to write articles and help students find the best learning experience. She enjoys learning about innovations in education, particularly online classes.
