Digital Voice Recorders

One of the ways I capture thoughts while I’m driving or otherwise not free to write is to capture them in my own words in an audio recording. One of my coaches and colleagues gave me a digital voice recorder last year, and it’s been invaluable as I have organized my thoughts in preparation for writing or presenting. I also use it sometimes for a personal diary or journal. I capture tasks that I’ll later put into my planner. I made a short recording of my toddler playing the piano and singing, which I otherwise would have probably not captured. I even used it one day to “jot down” the restaurants in an area that we were planning to visit as I was driving by.

There are so many models out there, but I’ve been very happy with my Olympus digital voice recorder. I would suggest a version that uploads to your computer so that you can keep and backup your audio files. Some audio clips you’ll end up deleting after you write them (or type them) down, but some you’ll want to keep indefinitely. You'll also want a model that records with one button. If it takes several steps to start recording, you won't use it.

Here’s a simple starter model at Amazon.com:

Olympus digital voice recorder with PC link

Follow the links to find other models. There are some that include a camera for "visual indexing" and other that include bigger memory for more files. And enjoy!