Tue, 05 May 2026 18:29:14 -0700WeeblyThu, 03 May 2012 20:18:31 GMThttps://www.adhdinterrupted.com/gadgets/adhd-gadget-of-the-century-the-echo-smartpen

_If this didn't rescue my university career, it certainly kept it from getting too mangled. It's a somewhat  chunky pen attached to a set of headphones (that also act as microphones), and it comes with a notebook. The way it works is that, as you write in the notebook, the microphones (which sit on your desk) record what's happening around you. When you want to review your notes, you just place the pen anywhere on the word/passage that you don't understand, press play, and it will play back for you from whatever was being said while you were writing that exact passage earlier on.

The most effective way I found to use it was to spend some time after lectures going through each note/audio-recording at the same time, and putting all the information into a mind map, piece by piece (with MANY breaks).  I'm a relational, auditory learner, so getting the information in an auditory way (hearing the lecture), and then putting it into a mind map (connecting how all the concepts are related) led to some really high marks when I dedicated the extra time to this practice.

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Other Uses for the Echo Smartpen
('cuz this definitely has multipurpose potential)

1) At work, to remember what you were supposed to learn from those boring board meetings

2) When debating with a loved one (record your conversation, so that when one of you says something that doesn't sound right, you can go back to the notes/recordings and rub it/have it rubbed in your face.)

3) To unleash your creative juices. Just doodle while thinking out loud and record yourself for self-awareness purposes. People with ADHD tend to struggle with self awareness, and it could be neat to find out what you're thinking while you doodle different (meaningful?) things. You could get to know yourself better, and it could be a great exercise to open up your creativity, and chisel your way out of a writing block. (At first I was stretching to find a third one, but I really like how it turned out!)

Can you think of any more?

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