If you’ve ever had a great idea surface just as you’re drifting off, you’ll know the dilemma: write it down now, or risk it vanishing by morning.
Reaching for your phone usually solves the first problem. However, it immediately creates another, thanks to notifications, messages, and the temptation to keep scrolling. A new DIY project aims to fix that with a far simpler solution.
Created by Ansh Gunjan Trivedi and shared on the Raspberry Pi subreddit, this bedside note-taking device uses a Raspberry Pi 5-powered device to capture late-night thoughts without a screen, apps, or distractions. It’s designed to sit quietly next to your bed. It is ready whenever an idea strikes.
The setup is refreshingly straightforward. You press a physical button, speak whatever’s on your mind, then press the button again when you’re done. A short beep confirms the note has been saved, and that’s it. No glowing display, no notifications, no accidental deep dive into social media.
Behind the scenes, the device records your voice using a microphone and converts it into text with Whisper.cpp, an offline speech-to-text system.
That text is then uploaded directly to Notion, where it’s automatically organised into a table. Each entry is categorised as an idea, task, or note, and given a short summary-style title. Furthermore, it is tagged with keywords, timestamped, and — if it’s a task — assigned a sense of urgency.
The hardware itself is intentionally minimal: a button, a microphone, a buzzer, and the Raspberry Pi handling everything in the background. The lack of a screen is the whole point. This keeps the device focused on one job only, which is capturing thoughts before sleep wipes them away.
Of course, there’s no guarantee the notes will make sense in the morning. Trivedi jokes that you may still wake up wondering why you recorded something like “big cereal spoons but green” at 3am, with no memory of the moment itself.
For now, the project is a personal build. However, Trivedi has said they may release full component specifications if there’s enough interest. For anyone tired of unlocking their phone just to save a half-asleep idea, this little Raspberry Pi box feels like a clever, and oddly comforting alternative.
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