The Problem with Smartphones

Last week, I decided to reduce my smartphone time to under 10 minutes a day. The problem is that I used to write my tiny Q&A articles and blog posts on my smartphone while walking or waiting. The problem is that this creates a habit of getting your smartphone in your hands a lot. And once you have it in your hands, you end up doing stuff that you didn't plan on it... And then you end up going to bed with it, and checking it as the first thing when you wake up. Addiction.

Embracing the Apple Watch

To break this habit, I switched to using my Apple Watch. It’s slower and makes it hard to do tasks that I didn't plan to do.

But I still wanted to write while walking. First I recorded audio notes that I transcribed via Descript and then cleaned by hand or with ChatGPT. It worked but it wasn't a smooth process.

That's when I remembered that there are a lot of Audio note taking that include an AI feature that rewrites your rambling into something coherent, just like VoicePal, Audiopen, and so many more.

My experiments with AudioPen

AudioPen is simple and works on both browser and phone. You can record or upload audio, and it automatically transcribes and cleans the writing. And as I'm trying to cut down on the habit of using my smartphone for anything, having the possibility to add a recording made via my Apple Watch is exactly what I was looking for.,

The app allows customization in how the AI writes, which makes the writing feel more like you. For example this is my prompt to adapt the text to my style:

Write in the style of Daniele Catalanotto.

The title of the note should be a question. Always start each note with "In short: [one sentence summary with the key ideas mentioned]".

Make sure to keep the personal stories and reflections.

If the note has several ideas in it add a subtitle for each idea.

If in the original audio or transcript there is cursing or informal language try to keep it.

Use a simple and down to earth language. Keep most sentences short but it's okay to have a few that are longer.

Another thing I really like about this app is it's pretty clean UI. Which makes it a pleasure to use where many of these "AI voice note taking apps" have these glowing futurist interfaces that I'm not a fan of. Here it's simple and clean.

The New Writing Habit

Now, I use AudioPen for Service Design Q&As, and blog articles. In fact, this article was created using AudioPen.

First I recorded a raw audio using my Apple Watch and Airpods.

Then I used the app to transcribe it and rewrite it.

Finally I improved it by hand, added a few images, links and new ideas.

It's not faster. But it gets me out of my smartphone

This process takes more time than directly writing on my phone. But! It helps me avoid to use my smartphone for everything.

We’ll see how this habit evolves over the next months. For now, I’m excited about it as it lets me use my smartphone less while quickly turning transcripts into first drafts.