Use a Voice Recorder to Capture Every Thought
Using a voice recorder was a game changer for me. If it never crossed your mind to own one, it’s going to be an incredible improvement capturing thoughts.
It’s one of my top recommended tools for distracted ADD/ADHD, disorganized and forgetful minds. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a book, a blog post, remembering a thought for a Youtube video, or planning your daughter’s wedding – or your grocery list – it will prove to be invaluable.
My recorder is in hand while listening to Youtube or podcast while driving and capture that thought and save it. I even have thoughts while I am getting another recorded. If that’s you, you really need a voice recorder.
In this article, I offer some tips in what to look for in a voice recorder, I also mention how I use it, which is helpful from a disorganized brain perspective.
Table of Contents
Features of my Sony ICD-B500 recorder
I purchased my Sony ICD-B500 voice recorder several years ago. It was about $40 at the time from Walmart. This was a reward incentive, so the cost wasn’t a detaining factor for buying.
I see that you can pick up the Sony ICD-PX240 4 GB digital voice recorder for a little more than that, and it’s a similar model. There are plenty of Sony and other brands of recorders out there for an even higher price.
What I like about my voice recorder:
It’s chunky. It’s a bit over 5/8″ thick. It’s not overly heavy, but I can’t lose it so easily. This was a huge problem with a different slim line model I picked up.
It’s silver. Enough with the black tech gadgets already! I am very careful about my gadgets looking different, even resorting to putting colorful duck tape on them to find them back. This was the only choice on the store shelf, but it’s worth mentioning after the fact.
Simple buttons. The buttons have to be really obvious and within reach. The record button is marked with a red dot. Not only that, I most often use the recorder while I am driving and it stays in my hand. I can easily feel the record, stop or pause buttons.
Erase button. This is the red button on the side of the device. Know that you do have to press it twice to erase on this model. I’m sure that is a safety feature. It’s also kind of a tiny button, I almost need a finger nail to use it. That’s OK, it’s just insurance so I don’t erase that precious thought.
Beware the “invisible” buttons on other types of voice recorders – the absence of real dials, buttons, and controls. The manufacturer may feel they have created a product that is efficient with it’s use of minimal/mult-use buttons. I want to cry because it’s the equivalent of feeling my way through the dark.
It has a headphone jack. I can listen to my recorded thoughts privately, without other people listening. What you are seeing on the closeup are ports to add a mic or earphones.
It has a volume button. It’s right there on the side, because sometimes you need it.
It takes 2 AAA batteries. I can handle that. They last a fairly long time. I know electronics are moving towards always having to charge them to your computer. That’s just another barrier that holds me up.
It’s not going to break. This is a good investment. This is simple technology that lasts years (at least the ICD-B500 model has for me).
Lanyard hole. I didn’t show it, but there is a spot for a lanyard hole. It’s a great idea to utilize, especially if you add a brightly colored one to help spot it easily. You can be out walking and have it around your neck, at the ready to catch a thought.
Negatives about voice recorders
I love my voice recorder. LOVE it. There are really no negatives, but I do want to point out things to avoid while shopping for one.
Hard cover case. Yours might come with cheapy disposable soft bag. You can buy a nicer case online. I tried different things and settled on an old hard-sided eyeglass case. I am terrified that the play button will accidentaly get pushed in a soft case, and launch my thoughts to the world, beware. This happened one time when I was digging through my purse looking for something.
One way to avoid this is always to check the volume is all the way down before putting away!
The case is black, so I put a hot pink stripe of duck tape on it. I still lose the darn thing. It’s up to you to help your forgetful brain in any way you can!
Slim line voice recorders. I don’t know what possessed me to buy a second voice recorder (I don’t even know where it’s at now). I think that I wanted to leave one in the car, and throw one into a backpack I had. I was tempted by the sleekness of it all.
IT SUCKED. For the reasons I mentioned earlier – those “invisible” buttons. It did not follow the principles of the Keep It Simple rule book. If you guessed I stopped using it because of this, you guessed right. I will also mention it didn’t fit right into my had, I couldn’t get a good grasp on it.
When you’re shopping, don’t get too caught up in appearances, go for practicality. It was also black, so it already had a strike against it.
Battery life. As mentioned earlier, voice recorders will either be battery powered, or USB powered. My opinion is that batteries are best. Mine lasts forever, unless I go quite a long time without using it.
Bells and whistles. I need my voice recorder as simple as possible. I don’t want a learning curve on how to use it. I am using it for one thing only: to capture thoughts while I am driving or walking. It will be in your best interest to lean towards a model with less features. It will also save money.
I’m not you, so I don’t know what your plans are for using it. You do you.
Sound quality. It didn’t matter to me that this isn’t supremo sound quality. It does matter for decipering the recording when you transcribe them later. Since I most often use it when driving, the background noise is definitely there. I try to hold the recorder closer to my mouth, but sometimes I might miss a thought or two because I don’t understand what I am saying.
If yoru goal is to pick up a lecture in a lecture hall, you might pay attention to how sensitive the onboard mic is. This might be a case to plug in an external mic for better sound capture.
Storage. My old device tops off at 99 recordings, then I have to delete some. The model mentioned earlier has 4 gb of storage. My use is simple, and this max is just fine for me. Depending on your end use, you might seek a recording device with more storage.
Retrieving data. I honestly don’t know if I can get the sound off of the model I have. I periodically sit and transcribe the brief (very brief) thoughts onto paper, or type them to a digital file. I have one nice recording that I always keep. I could just play it, while recording it over to another device for permanent saving.
If this is important to you, then seek out that feature.
Conclusion
I hope I have convinced you into getting a voice recorder. I do like to keep my tools at a minimum, but to me this is a must-have for ADD/ADHD brains that shoot off rapid-fire thoughts and quickly forget them.
Don’t forget, this makes a great gift for people you know would benefit from it.
Later, Renee
