This year I actually started my Christmas shopping early. Several years ago, when I last made an effort to get my shopping done in a timely manor, I found myself starting in late fall and buying gifts regularly until Christmas Eve. Doing my holiday shopping this way brought about a new set of problems for me.

In an effort to prevent another disaster for my pocket book, I decided to use my computer as my Christmas gift tracker this year. Every time I make a purchase I enter it on my computer-tracking document, which I sort myself. This simple Word document is helping me make intelligent purchasing decisions and keep track of my progress at the same time.

The computer can actually be used for many such organizational endeavors. It is especially good at tracking collections. Whether you collect art, CDs, books, dolls, or wine, you can easily find software to help you keep track of all your precious items. You can use a database program like Microsoft Works or a spreadsheet program like Excel to create your own headings and enter the information that you want to track. You can also find shareware that is already set up to track the type of collection that you own. Tucows, has shareware trackers and organizers for books, art, antiques coins, recipes, wine, rocks, stamps, and much more. Many of these programs allow you to enter a photo of the item making the database useful for insurance documentation as well as simple tracking.

No matter what you are organizing, a good labeler always comes in handy. A company named Dymo has excellent computer labelers, which can keep a database of every label you enter. If you are in need of a simple, quick label, I would suggest the hand-held Dymo Letra Pro. This labeler doesn’t attach to the computer. Its portability makes it perfect for a quick label anywhere in the house or office. I recently got my massive book collection under control by simply sorting the books into categories and labeling the shelves with the category names. Someday, I’ll use a good shareware program to do a detailed inventory, but for now, my simple categories allow me to easily find the book I need.

If you are one of the millions of people that have purchased a digital camera, you may have realized that digital photos accumulate even more quickly than old photographs. While it may be enjoyable to go through old shoeboxes filled with photos, dealing with digitals photos is not always fun.

The best solution is to keep track of your digital photos as you transfer them to the computer. Each time you have a photo session you should label all the photos with descriptive names. Purchase a good program that will help you organize your photos. Adobe has one called. Photoshop Album 2. Jasc has one called Paint Shop Photo Album 4. Both of these programs, as well as many other brands, can read EXIF information that is created with most of the newer digital cameras. That means that the program can tell you exactly when the picture was taken without your having to enter a date. The programs will help you organize your photos into collections similar to photo albums. If you take the time to add keywords to your photographs, you will be able to locate that picture of Aunt Edna taken at Clara’s house last January, quite easily. While dealing with priceless photographic memories, be sure to remember that hard drives can crash. You will want to copy your photos to CDs or DVDs to make sure they are safely archived.

One more tip on organization techniques. If you have notes scattered all over your desk and you keep scraps of paper everywhere that contain important information, there are two great programs that can help you organize all the scraps and scribbles. It’s a program called Infoselect. This program will let you enter free form information and it will organize the information for you so you can find all the bits and pieces easily. Another program called Stickies actually lets you keep sticky notes on your computer desktop, and it also helps you organize all those notes for safekeeping and easy access.

If you have only been using your computer for e-mail, finances, and correspondence, now is a good time to use it to help you get organized. After all, nothing can compare to the feeling of success when you have taken a messy pile of items, put each item in its proper place and, making a list of every item for you to peruse at your leisure.