Absolute fastest way to capture voice notes?

jong

Registered
Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to GTD and trying to figure out the absolute fastest way to capture voice notes and send them to my inbox (in Todoist). Tools like Braintoss are great, but really I want something where I can simply press a button, say something, and then have that audio end up in Todoist where I can process it (I don't want to unlock a screen, click an icon, etc. etc.). I have a LOT of ideas and just want to get them out of my head as quickly as physically possible. Are there any tools that are closer to this ideal than Braintoss? I'd even be happy to buy 2-3 devices specifically for this purpose (say, at <=$100) and keep them at strategic places, like in my office, by the shower, and in my car.

Many many thanks for your wisdom!
 

mcogilvie

Registered
Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to GTD and trying to figure out the absolute fastest way to capture voice notes and send them to my inbox (in Todoist). Tools like Braintoss are great, but really I want something where I can simply press a button, say something, and then have that audio end up in Todoist where I can process it (I don't want to unlock a screen, click an icon, etc. etc.). I have a LOT of ideas and just want to get them out of my head as quickly as physically possible. Are there any tools that are closer to this ideal than Braintoss? I'd even be happy to buy 2-3 devices specifically for this purpose (say, at <=$100) and keep them at strategic places, like in my office, by the shower, and in my car.

Many many thanks for your wisdom!

You can use Siri on an iPhone: https://get.todoist.help/hc/en-us/articles/207221555-Using-Siri-with-Todoist. Sorry, no buttons to press, no gadgets to buy. If you are using Android, I don’t know who to talk to. :)
 

jong

Registered
Perhaps you are already doing this, but you can set Braintoss to email directly to Todoist, bypassing your email altogether.

https://get.todoist.help/hc/en-us/articles/360000249160-Forwarding-emails-to-Todoist
Thank you very much! Yes, I appreciate that that's an option. The delta between that and the ideal I imagine is that 1) I still need to unlock the phone etc. and 2) I don't necessarily always have my phone on me, so I dream of a device I can have redundantly in different locations. I'm probably just a weirdo to a large degree, but I wanted to check if there are options I'm unaware of!
 

Ger80C

Registered
@jong , if you are on Android, woudn't there be a way to input something in some bucket via Google Assistant / Voice command, and have an automation service like Zapier or IFTTT look at that bucket and transfer it to your task system's inbox?

Cheers
Sebastian
 

mcogilvie

Registered
Thank you very much! Yes, I appreciate that that's an option. The delta between that and the ideal I imagine is that 1) I still need to unlock the phone etc. and 2) I don't necessarily always have my phone on me, so I dream of a device I can have redundantly in different locations. I'm probably just a weirdo to a large degree, but I wanted to check if there are options I'm unaware of!

Amazon, Apple and Google are dreaming about this too, and would love for you to get to know Alexa, Siri, and Google (!). The Amazon Dot is particularly inexpensive. Apple and Siri are better on privacy. None of them are insanely great, but they do work.
 

jong

Registered
@jong , if you are on Android, woudn't there be a way to input something in some bucket via Google Assistant / Voice command, and have an automation service like Zapier or IFTTT look at that bucket and transfer it to your task system's inbox?

Cheers
Sebastian
Yeah, that's a great idea worth investigating! Have you heard of that being done before with Google Assistant? I'm not sure off-hand if there's a way to get that message into a place tools like Zapier can get to it, without having to do a roundabout and relatively time-consuming voice command like "Send an email to myself..."
 

jong

Registered
Amazon, Apple and Google are dreaming about this too, and would love for you to get to know Alexa, Siri, and Google (!). The Amazon Dot is particularly inexpensive. Apple and Siri are better on privacy. None of them are insanely great, but they do work.
Yeah, Alexa or similar may be the best bet, though they're still general-purpose and require you to clarify what thing you currently want them to do, while my ideal would be "If I press this button and say something, send what I say to my in-tray". As someone with clearly more GTD experience than I, curious why you think "None of them are insanely great". What are they missing in your view? Or is it just the suspect commitments to privacy?
 

mcogilvie

Registered
I only have direct experience with Alexa on various home devices and Siri on a Homepod. The Homepod is a good speaker but does not integrate with 3rd-party apps. Apple could make a fantastic home digital appliance based on the iPad but has so far chosen not to do so.

I have read that most users use Alexa for weather and music, and that’s been my experience too. I do use the timer function also. Amazon wants you to BUY STUFF with Alexa, but most people don’t. Like google, Amazon has minimal interest in your productivity, but Alexa does work ok with google calendar. Alexa has gazillions of skills, but most are of limited interest and all require specific invocation. There’s a certain amount of trial and error involved, and connections are not robust. Overall, I think the whole home digital assistant and digital home has been more hype than real.

I didn’t say this before, but the market for voice recorders, never huge, has taken a nose dive with the rise of the smartphone. Also going nowhere are smart pens and/or paper that send stuff on to more capable devices. Probably the most reliable technology there is a waterproof Field Notebook and a Space Pen. If you had an iPhone, I would tell you to consider an Apple Watch.

I predict the technologies that will flourish for the next few years will be based around the smart phone, watch, tablet and laptop. Cars will get smarter and interface better too.
 

Stefan Godo

GTD Connect
Hi everyone! I'm fairly new to GTD and trying to figure out the absolute fastest way to capture voice notes and send them to my inbox (in Todoist). Tools like Braintoss are great, but really I want something where I can simply press a button, say something, and then have that audio end up in Todoist where I can process it (I don't want to unlock a screen, click an icon, etc. etc.). I have a LOT of ideas and just want to get them out of my head as quickly as physically possible. Are there any tools that are closer to this ideal than Braintoss? I'd even be happy to buy 2-3 devices specifically for this purpose (say, at <=$100) and keep them at strategic places, like in my office, by the shower, and in my car.

Many many thanks for your wisdom!
a7 size notepad in pocket and pen. Cost: 1$ .
You can unlock your Android phone by voice command ("hey Google, braintoss", start braintoss and make the note (even without any touch, is used in quick start mode). Sends it automatically to your email
Specifically in a car: dedicated voice recorder with 1 button. Safest, fastest, but need to reprocess (5 s per note).
 
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