The appliance (auto, plumbing, computer) parts store always seems to ask for the one piece of information you didn’t write down. So shoot a photo of the entire appliance nameplate and take it with you. Sure, you can do that with any camera phone. But can you read the numbers on that tiny 2-in. screen? Nope. A smartphone screen is much larger and lets you zoom in to read smaller information. It works great for paint labels too—saves the trouble of dragging paint cans to the store.
If you haven’t run across this particular cable-organizing tip yet, it’s time you did, because it’s dirt simple and pure genius. Clamp a binder clip to the edge of your desk to holster USB cables. No more cables slipping behind your desk into the dusty darkness below.
Use an app for your smartphone to help you organize jobs into labeled and colored notes (The Color Note app for Android phones is shown here, but there are similar apps for the iPhone). Anytime you need to remember something like spark plug sizes, belt sizes, dimensions, furnace filter sizes, air filters, etc., enter it into your phone. You can also take pictures of a disassembly so you can put the item back together again without any leftover parts. This also helps when you're shopping since you have all the info and pictures with you all the time.
The little plastic tags used to close bread bags are handy for identifying the cables on your computer components. Just write the name of the device on the tag and slip it around the cable. No more wondering which cable belongs to which device.
