Death by Dictaphone

My colleague Christine recently blogged about the Event Planners Notebook that she uses and how invaluable it is as a tool and it got me thinking about what I use. I also have my Notebook, 3 in fact, one in my office, one in my handbag and one onmy bedside table, but something else I use all the time is my dictaphone.

I don’t know about you but one of my best places for finding inspiration is in my car. I think it must be something about the hypnotic hum of the engine and the absolute peace and quiet I can have when driving by myself. But, whenever I have a ‘Creative Block’ the best thing I can do is jump in my car and drive. The only problem with this is that whilst I am driving I can’t scribble down my inspirational thoughts and I know that until I have physically recorded them in some way, I won’t remember them because my mind is working too fast to process everything it needs to properly.

A few years ago I stumbled across an article about how to best record your thoughts and it was in this article that I discovered the Dictaphone. The dictaphone is one of those handy little contraptions that fits neatly into your handbag or glove compartment and allows you to drive or walk along quite happily whilst recording all those little creative gems that are filling your head. It really is as simple as pressing Record. I know that with all the Iphones and other gadgets out there a dictaphone might seem a little antequated, but personally that is one of the things I love about it. Also, it’s soul purpose in life is to record my musings. Nobody else but me uses it and nobody else is likely to wipe my musings whilst trying to do something else like take a picture with my phone.

Another great use for your dictaphone is to record your client consultations. This is especially effective when you are first starting out. In the beginning you won’t be as confident and the last thing you want to do is to be sitting in front of your client scribbling furiously and never making eye contact. Your dictaphone acts as your personal assistant and takes all the stress out of the meeting. You don’t have to worry about missing anything your client says to you, you can focus on what they are saying and make the most of the time you have with them instead.

The only problem though is remembering to do a ‘Download Dump’ – otherwise known as taking all the info off the Dictaphone and using it. I like to try and do this once a month. You’ll be surprised how many times I have been inspired to do something or solved a problem simply by listening to all my dictaphone posts. You do need to remember to do this regularly otherwise as the title of this blog suggests, it will be ‘Death by Dictaphone’ and inspiration overload.

So what model do you use and where do you get them from? Well, I love the Olympus Dictaphones or Digital Voice Recorders as they are otherwise known. My latest model is certainly a big upgrade from my very first model and even comes with a USB device that allows me to download all my files onto my laptop and even email them to others if I want to. They are not expensive anymore and are usually under $200 and one of the best investments I ever made. To find out more about the latest Olympus models visit www.dictate.com.au 

Happy recording and let me know how you go.