Having a list of what is in the workshop makes designing a breeze. The more information you have available to you while you are in front of the PC the less time you spend running between the workshop and your desk. Knowing what you have available to work with makes a lot of decisions easy. So I have compiled a list of what materials and tools I have available.
Yes its a pain to keep it up to date so I try to update it whenever I buy stuff and as I use/break things I just update a whiteboard in the workshop or jolt down a note on my phone.