Voice to Text for ADHD

The gap between thinking and typing is real. You have the idea fully formed in your mind, but by the time your fingers catch up, something shiny has already pulled your attention elsewhere. Voice typing closes that gap. Hold a button, speak your thought immediately, and release. Your idea is captured before distraction has a chance to steal it. Blurt works at the speed of your brain, not the speed of your fingers.

First 1,000 words free Capture thoughts instantly No learning curve

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The Typing Problem

The thought is gone before you finish typing it

You had it. The perfect way to phrase that email, the solution to the problem you've been wrestling with, the next sentence of your essay. Then your fingers start moving and somewhere between the third and fourth word, it evaporates. Not because you forgot — because typing is slow and your brain moved on. The gap between thinking speed and typing speed is where ideas go to die.

Typing itself becomes a distraction

You're trying to capture a thought, but now you're also thinking about spelling, noticing a typo, wondering if that comma goes there, seeing a notification pop up, remembering you need to reply to that other message. Typing isn't just slow — it's cognitively expensive. Each keystroke is an opportunity for your attention to fragment.

Working memory gets overwhelmed mid-sentence

Your working memory is already working overtime just to hold the thought. Now add the task of translating that thought to finger movements, one letter at a time. By the time you've typed the subject of your sentence, you've forgotten what the predicate was supposed to be. You stare at half a sentence, trying to reconstruct what you meant.

The blank page feels like a wall

Getting started is the hardest part. The cursor blinks. You know what you want to say, sort of, but structuring it into typed words feels overwhelming. So you check your email instead. Or reorganize your tabs. Or get more coffee. The activation energy required to start typing is higher than your current motivation can clear.

Editing while writing derails everything

You typed a sentence. But it's not quite right. So you go back to fix it. But now you've lost the thread of what came next. The compulsion to edit in real-time means you never build momentum. Every paragraph becomes a struggle between getting ideas out and getting them perfect, and neither wins.

How It Works

Blurt removes the bottleneck between your brain and the screen. Speak at the speed of thought, and your words appear. No typing, no friction, no lost ideas.

Hold your hotkey

Press and hold your chosen key. A small indicator shows Blurt is listening. This is your signal to your brain: time to talk.

Speak your thought immediately

Say what you're thinking, right now, before it leaves. Don't wait to organize it perfectly — just get it out. Blurt handles punctuation and formatting automatically.

Release and it's captured

Let go of the key. Your words appear at your cursor, exactly where you need them. The thought that would have evaporated during typing is now safely on screen.

Real Scenarios

Capturing ideas before they vanish

A solution pops into your head during a meeting. With typing, you'd lose it before your fingers reached the keyboard. With Blurt, you hold the hotkey and speak: 'We could automate the report generation by connecting the database directly to the template system.' Done. The idea is captured in three seconds instead of disappearing in ten. You can refine it later — but only because it exists.

Brain dumping without structure

You don't know exactly what you want to say, but you know you need to get it out of your head. With Blurt, you can talk through your thoughts in a stream. 'So the problem is that the deadline moved up but we never adjusted the scope, and honestly I'm not sure the client even knows what they want, but maybe if we just focus on the three core features...' Messy? Yes. But now it's written down where you can work with it.

Responding to messages immediately

You open a Slack message intending to respond. Usually, that intention would dissolve as you switched to typing mode. With Blurt, you respond in the moment: hold button, say 'Sounds good, I can have that ready by end of day,' release. Message sent before your brain could wander to something else.

First drafts without perfectionism

The spoken word is inherently less formal than the typed word. When you speak your first draft, you're not carving words in stone — you're having a conversation. This psychological shift helps bypass the perfectionism that freezes so many ADHD writers. Speak the rough draft. Edit later. Actually finish things.

Writing emails without starting over three times

You need to send a difficult email. Usually, you'd type a sentence, delete it, type another, delete that, get frustrated, and close the tab. With voice, you talk through what you want to say: 'Hey Sarah, I wanted to follow up on our conversation about the timeline. I think we should push the launch by two weeks to give the team more buffer.' No delete key to abuse. Just words on screen.

Taking notes that actually get taken

You're in a lecture or meeting. You know you should be taking notes. But note-taking requires typing, and typing means missing what's being said, and missing what's being said means your notes are useless anyway. With Blurt, you can quietly capture key points without losing the thread of the conversation. Your notes might not be perfect, but they'll exist.

Externalizing working memory

Your working memory is full. You're juggling three tasks and a thought just appeared that you can't lose. Instead of trying to hold it while you finish what you're doing — and inevitably failing — you capture it with voice in five seconds. 'Remind self to check if the API key needs renewal before Friday.' Done. Now you can focus again.

macOS includes built-in dictation, but it wasn't designed for how ADHD brains actually work. Here's how Blurt differs.

	Blurt	macOS Dictation
Activation	Hold any hotkey you choose — muscle memory in minutes	Double-tap Control or click menu icon
Speed to start	Instant — no lag between press and listening	Brief delay while system connects
Accuracy	AI transcription optimized for natural speech patterns	Good but less reliable with fast or casual speech
Punctuation	Automatic — no need to say 'period' or 'comma'	Requires speaking punctuation marks
Distraction factor	Minimal UI — small indicator only	Modal interface can interrupt flow
Works in any app	Yes, system-wide text insertion	Yes, but reliability varies by app
Price	$10/month or $99/year (first 1,000 words free)	Free with macOS

Frequently Asked Questions

I already think faster than I can speak. Will voice typing help?

Most people speak 3-4 times faster than they type (120-150 words per minute vs. 40-60). Even if your thoughts outpace your speech, speaking still captures them much faster than typing. And critically, speaking is a single-track activity — you're not also monitoring spelling, fixing typos, and fighting the urge to edit. That cognitive simplicity means fewer dropped thoughts.

What if I need to think about what I'm saying?

You don't have to speak continuously. Hold the button, say a sentence, pause to think, say the next sentence, release when you're done. Blurt isn't a transcription service expecting a speech — it's a tool that captures whatever you give it, at whatever pace feels natural.

Won't speaking out loud be awkward in an office?

You can speak quietly — Blurt handles low volume well. Many users describe it as just slightly louder than thinking out loud. In open offices, you might save voice typing for specific tasks or use it during breaks. But honestly, most people around you are too focused on their own work to notice someone speaking softly at their desk.

Does Blurt work with ADHD medication effects?

Blurt works regardless of medication status. Some users find voice typing especially helpful during medication gaps — when focus is harder, speaking is still easier than typing. Others use it medicated to maximize productivity. The tool adapts to your brain state, not the other way around.

What's the free tier limit and is it enough to try properly?

The free tier is first 1,000 words free, permanently. That's roughly 3-4 full emails per day, or several pages of notes free. It's enough to genuinely integrate voice typing into your workflow and see if it helps. If you find yourself hitting the limit, that's actually a good sign — it means you're using it, which means it's working for you.

How does this compare to ADHD-specific productivity tools?

Most ADHD productivity tools focus on task management, time blocking, or motivation. Blurt focuses on a different problem: the gap between having a thought and getting it written down. It's not a replacement for your task manager or calendar — it's a tool for the actual writing part. Many users combine Blurt with other ADHD tools for a complete system.

Does Blurt work with Windows or just Mac?

Blurt is macOS only. We focused on creating the best possible Mac experience with native menu bar integration and system-level keyboard shortcuts. Windows and Linux versions are not currently available.

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