Secret Nibblet: Organize Your Inspiration Files with Wishpot

Idea file labeled: “Artificial Flowers in Unusual Ways”

Every once in a while I discover a ‘nibblet’ of new-fangled technology that puts a smile on my face. Something that makes life a little easier. Something that makes life a little happier. Something I want to share with everyone I know.

Now, I’m not in the business of promoting products or service, but if I come across something that makes me say “Why didn’t someone tell me about this years ago?!” then, chances are, I am going to let you in on it too. It will be our little secret 😉

Sometimes people ask me where I get ideas for stuff. The answer is usually;

a. Something I did as kid.
   or
b. Something I saw on the internet.

The kid stuff I’ll have to sort out and record one-by-one, but the internet stuff is far more abundant and complicated. At least two or three times a day I see something and say HOLY BAJEEZERS THAT’S COOL!….and I’ll have to make note of it immediately, otherwise it will fall off the hamster wheel inside my brain, never to be seen again.

Now, when I say make note of it that’s a tricky thing.

How do you note it? In a journal? On a que-card? On the back of a napkin?

Ten years ago I would print out the webpage and stick it in a file. Five years ago I would bookmark the hyperlink. Two years ago I would save the image to a file on my computer’s desktop and use the URL as the image description….but, as of six months ago, all that changed. Thanks to a nifty little program called Wishpot, my growing library of inspiration snippets is organized, online, and isn’t consuming gobs of paper or space on my hardrive. Nifty, huh?

If you know about Wishpot, then this is old news to you! If you have never heard of Wishpot, get ready to be impressed. It’s free. It’s fabulous. It’s easy to use. You are going to love it.

Think of Wishpot like a online bridal registry, minus the wedding, and instead of tagging gifts, you are tagging ideas. Interested? I could explain all the knitty-gritty here, but I suggest you pop on over and watch this quick video on Creature Comforts –Ez explains it so much better than I ever could! (BTW, while your over there, pop around the site. Geez, talk about sources for inspiration!)

Wishpot is initially intended as shopping site, but you can use it to organize just about anything online. I use it to record and sort my online inspiration, while my friend Jami uses it to keep track of online recipes. I have a coworker who uses it to store the titles of books and music she is considering buying down the road. I have even heard of people using it to organize their business receipts and invoices. The possibilities are endless!!

I know there are other similar services out there, but I have found this one to be the easiest for me to use. If anyone else out there uses other tools for organizing their sources of online inspiration, or just other nifty tools in general, feel free to post it in the comments!