A Bright Idea

I was driving to work the other day when a bright idea occurred to me. It was important, really important. But there was no way I could've written it down or sent myself an email while driving a car. And if I didn't record it somewhere, I'm sure I would have forgotten it by the time I arrived at the office. So I reached for the phone (I live in a state where talking on the cell phone while driving is still legal). But I didn't call my voice mail or my secretary. I called Jott.

Jott is the brightest idea of them all. And it's free. It is a service that uses voice recognition to convert your spoken message to an email. Here's more details on how to use it.

I use it all the time now when I'm away from a computer, or if I just want to get some important stuff out of my head without interrupting whatever I'm working on. As David Allen said, if it's in your head, you're probably not working on it.

So here's how I use it. When I call Jott, she knows who I am based on my cell phone's number. I say I want to jott myself, she knows my Gmail address. Then I say the message and hang up. Done. I speak English with an accent, but no matter, she understands me. The only time I get (...) is when I say names of my Polish friends, like Niedzwiecki. Oh well...

I programmed names and email addresses of my relatives and several friends, I can jott them too.

I have a filter set up in Gmail that stars a new message, applies necessary labels and forwards it to my work email. I could have forwarded it directly to my work inbox, but we're using Outlook, need I say more?

If my Jott message is a reminder, I can quickly send it from Gmail to Todoist with a handy toolbar link. From Todoist front page click on Show Info Page (upper right corner), then Gmail Integration. That is another way of keeping vital information organized, documented and easily retrievable but not in my mind.

Now I am truly part of the network, even if I'm not at the keyboard. And I don't need to worry about forgetting my bright ideas.