I was looking for a method of cleaning up my paper scraps I keep collecting from day to day living. After looking at many programs and not finding any new ideas I thought would work for me, I read a review of a Mac program named ‘In Touch With’ which I read about looking for usable programs on versiontracker.com which really caught my interest. The review of the program itself was nothing so creative, but rather the idea behind the unique way the people reviewing the program are using it.

Version tracker is a great resource for locating and reading what others think or do not think about almost any program for Mac or Window. Another two great resources for Mac software and reviews is macupdate.com and puremac.com. If they do not have a listing and review of a program to fit your needd, it is time to start writing your own programs.

We all have things that we wish to, or need to keep track of. Sometimes it is written on scraps of paper, sometimes it is contents of envelopes, drawers, boxes, and so on. I read a few program reviews where someone used In Touch With contact program to also keep track of items in their household! I think this is a very creative fix for a problem we all share!

Using an imac, I wanted to what programs I have to start tracking small stuff. I thought I would start out with those little scraps of paper with notes. I also wanted to store some phone numbers that I do not want in my address book because I will call them once or twice and that is all.

I use Journler which is an awesome program for keeping track of multiple documents. I did not want to use Journler for those scraps that I may never use because then I would have my Journler database filled with many entries that add to the more important information such as my blog and other articles I store in Journler.

Thinking back on programs I have used my imac, I remembered using freeware program named XPad. XPad is a nice little text editor with a built in document file. Xpad quickly absorbed all my scraps of notes and phone numbers from my desk and my top drawer.

Thinking about the reviews, and not wanting to lose my hardcopies of some of those scraps of paper, I placed them all in an envelope and labled it Envelope #1 which I put away. I the annotated all the entries in XPad (type, copy, paste, paste, paste…) with the location of Envelope #1. Now if I ever want to know the actual location of my notes and scraps, I have it.

It looks like XPad will become my short term notes and number repository for my imac. In Windows, Treepad would do the same thing. I could simply create a node named Envelope 1, and subnodes containing my paper scrap information and numbers.

I was left with a few scraps of information that I did not want on my computer because they are email accounts and passwords. I found a little program for mac that does one thing and seems to do it pretty well. It is almost a pre-version of XPad with the addition of encryption. I can have separate files, or documents, and they all will be encrypted, probably much better than I need, but that is okay. I am more comfortable with too much rather than none at all. The mac program I found is named LittleSecrets, , and the cost of registration is very reasonable.

There were two other programs I looked at, the first was Caboodle both a freeform and a tree view information manager with the ability to encrypt entries. A Second program I checked out is named Dossier which is similar and also allows individual entry encryption. If I was not already using Journler, I would give both Caboodle and Dossier serious consideration.

I have recovered from too many paper scraps. My collection of notes and scraps is gone from my desk and stored away, while their electronic versions are a mouse click or two away. I have some boxes of items which I packed up some time ago of things that are either of value, or I wanted to keep, and they are next to go into XPad with a note of what it is, and the box number they are in. Along the way, I just may have a garage sale!