Everyday things, used differently

Tech that helps

Most of what helps isn't specialist equipment. It's ordinary apps, settings and gadgets used in ways they weren't quite designed for. Much of it is already on the phone in your pocket.

Ordinary apps and gadgets, used in ways they weren't designed for.

Nothing here is sponsored. Named products are examples, not recommendations, and there are usually free alternatives. Start with one thing, adding six new systems at once rarely survives a bad week.

Start here

On your phone

Modern phones already include features built for other conditions that happen to suit brain injury very well. They cost nothing, they're switched on in a minute, and most people never find them.

Built in Ask your phone to remind you

The quickest way to get something out of your head and into something that will remind you. No unlocking, no typing, no app to find: you say it once and it exists. Every modern phone can do this, and it costs nothing.

How to set it up

Say “Hey Google”, or hold the power button for a moment, depending on your phone.
Say the reminder as one whole sentence, including when: “remind me to put the bins out every Tuesday evening”, or “remind me to call Sarah in three hours”.
Repeating ones work the same way: “every morning at eight”, “every Monday”, “on the first of every month”.
You can use a place instead of a time: “remind me to collect the prescription when I get to town”, or “remind me to take my tablets when I get home”.
For place reminders, the assistant needs permission to use your location, which it will ask for the first time.
Prefer not to speak out loud? Open the Gemini app and type it instead, or tap the microphone in the app and speak your request there.
Reminders appear in Google Tasks and in your Calendar, so you can see the list later and tick things off.

Worth knowing: If nothing happens when you say “Hey Google”, it may not be switched on. Look in the Google app under Settings → Google Assistant → Hey Google.

Built in Have your phone read things out loud

Turns reading into listening, which uses different resources. Good for long letters, forms and articles when your eyes tire quickly or the words stop going in.

How to set it up

Open Settings → Accessibility → Select to Speak. On some phones it sits under Accessibility → Downloaded apps or Installed apps.
Turn on the Select to Speak shortcut.
Choose how to launch it, a floating button on screen is easiest to find, or a two-finger swipe up from the bottom.
To use it: tap the Select to Speak button, then tap a paragraph, or drag a box around the part you want. Tap the play all icon to read the whole screen.
Use the controls that appear to pause, skip or slow the voice down.
To change the voice or speed generally, go to Settings → Accessibility → Text-to-speech output.

Worth knowing: Reading speed is set separately in Text-to-speech output. Slowing it down is usually the single change that makes this genuinely usable.

Free Ask an assistant to find the word you've lost

When a word won't come, you can describe it out loud and have something else supply it. No judgement, no waiting for a person to guess, and you can ask as many times as you like.

How to set it up

Gemini is built into most recent Android phones. Press and hold the power button, or say “Hey Google”. If nothing happens, install the free Gemini app from the Play Store.
Tap the microphone to speak, or type instead if talking is harder that day.
Describe the word however it comes out. “What's the word for the thing you boil water in?” or “the word that means happy but posher”.
Add anything you do remember, “it begins with a K”, “it's got three syllables”. Fragments narrow it down quickly.
Put the Gemini widget on your home screen so it's one tap during a conversation rather than several.
You can also ask it to simplify something you've been sent: “put this letter in plain English”.

Worth knowing: It doesn't need a proper sentence. Half-finished descriptions and wrong words still usually get you there.

Built in Speak instead of typing

Dictation is usually far less effortful than typing, especially when tired. It works in almost any text box: messages, email, notes, search.

How to set it up

Tap into any text box so the keyboard appears.
Tap the microphone icon on the keyboard, usually top right on Gboard.
Speak normally. Say the punctuation as you go: “full stop”, “comma”, “new line”.
If the microphone is missing, check Settings → System → Languages & input → On-screen keyboard → Gboard → Voice typing.
Turn on faster voice typing in Gboard's voice settings if offered, it works offline and keeps up better.

Worth knowing: For a long email you've been putting off, dictate a rough version first and tidy it afterwards. Getting something down is the hard part.

Built in Bigger, bolder text everywhere

One system setting changes almost every app at once, rather than fighting each one separately. Weight helps as much as size, bold text is often the bigger improvement.

How to set it up

Open Settings → Display → Display size and text. On Samsung phones it's Settings → Display → Font size and style.
Drag Font size up. This changes text only.
Then drag Display size up as well: this scales buttons and spacing, which often helps more than font size alone.
Turn on Bold text on the same screen.
Turn on High contrast text underneath if the grey-on-grey in some apps is hard going.

Worth knowing: Most people pick a size that looks absurd for about a day and completely normal by the end of the week. Go bigger than feels reasonable.

For memory

Getting things out of your head

The aim isn't to remember better. It's to need to remember less, by putting things somewhere reliable the moment they happen.

Costs money Ask a smart watch to remind you

Free if you already own one, but a smart watch is the thing to buy first if you're going to buy anything. It's the one device already on your wrist, so there's no unlocking, finding or typing — you speak, and the reminder exists. It can also trigger when you arrive somewhere rather than at a set time.

How to set it up

Wear OS watches (Samsung Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch, Fossil and others) pair with Android phones, and some also work with an iPhone in a more limited way.
Press and hold the side button to bring up the assistant, or say “Hey Google” if you have it enabled.
Say “remind me to take my tablets at three o'clock”. The reminder syncs to your phone automatically.
For a place: “remind me to buy milk when I get to Tesco” or “remind me to call the surgery when I get home”.
Set your home and work addresses in Google Maps under Saved → Labelled, so “home” and “work” are understood.
Give Google Assistant permission to use your location, or place reminders won't trigger.
Reminders appear in Google Tasks and Assistant on your phone, so nothing lives only on the watch.

Worth knowing: Say the whole thing in one go rather than waiting to be asked questions. “Remind me to X at Y” in a single sentence is far more reliable.

Free Your camera as a memory

The fastest capture tool you own. A photo takes two seconds, needs no typing, no spelling and no decisions, which is exactly what you want at the moment something needs recording.

How to set it up

Get to the camera without unlocking: swipe left on the lock screen (iPhone) or double-press the power button (Android).
Photograph where you parked: include the level, bay number or a sign, not just the car.
Photograph medication boxes, so you can check the name at an appointment without going home.
Photograph the shelf or cupboard before you take something out of it.
Photograph meter readings, parking signs, appointment cards, and any form you hand over.
Photograph the inside of the fridge before you go shopping. It ends the “did we need milk” loop entirely.

Worth knowing: Make an album called Memory and drop these into it, so they aren't lost among ordinary photos. On both phones you can add to an album straight from the share menu.

Free Voice notes instead of writing

When word-finding is hard, speaking is often easier than typing, and it captures the thought before it disappears. Especially useful straight after an appointment.

How to set it up

Use the Voice Memos app (iPhone) or Recorder (Android). Both record with one tap.
Put the app on your home screen, or add it to Control Centre / Quick Settings so it's reachable in one movement.
Record as you leave an appointment, while it's still fresh. Say the date and who you saw first.
On Android, Recorder transcribes automatically. On iPhone, Voice Memos shows a transcript on recent versions: tap the transcript icon.
Rename anything you'll want to find again, or it becomes a list of identical timestamps.
Delete the ones you've dealt with, so the list stays short enough to face.

Worth knowing: A rambling recording is still infinitely better than a thought you lost. It doesn't have to be tidy.

Free Alarms that say what they're for

An alarm labelled “Alarm” tells you nothing at the exact moment you need to know something. The label is the useful part, not the noise.

How to set it up

In the Clock app, add an alarm and use the Label field.
Write the action, not the category: Take the blue tablet, not Meds.
Set it to repeat daily rather than creating a new one each time, one less thing to remember to do.
Set alarms for when to start something, not when it's due. Starting is the part that doesn't happen by itself.
For appointments, set two: one the evening before, one ninety minutes ahead.
Use a gentle tone. A jarring alarm can trigger a startle response that costs more than it saves.

Worth knowing: If you dismiss alarms without acting on them, move the phone across the room. Having to stand up breaks the reflex.

Costs money Trackers on the things you lose

Small Bluetooth tags (AirTag, Tile, Chipolo) that let your phone find your keys, and let your keys ring your phone.

How to set it up

Buy one tag first and live with it for a fortnight before buying more.
Put it on whatever you lose most. For most people that's keys, then the bag they take to appointments.
Open the Find My app (iPhone) or Find My Device (Android) and follow the distance indicator.
Use it in reverse: pressing the tag makes a silenced phone ring.
Add glasses cases, the TV remote and wallets once you know the system works for you.
Set up Separation Alerts if offered, the phone warns you when you walk away without the tagged item.

Worth knowing: AirTags need an iPhone; most other tags work with both. Check before buying.

Free One calendar, shared

One calendar that both you and someone close to you can see, rather than two versions of the truth and an argument about which is right.

How to set it up

In Google Calendar or Apple Calendar, create a new calendar named something like Shared.
Google: open it on a computer, hover the calendar name, choose Settings → Share with specific people, and give them Make changes permission.
Apple: in the Calendar app, tap the i beside the calendar name, then Add Person.
Agree that appointments go in this calendar and nowhere else. Two systems is worse than one.
Turn on two alerts for every event: one the day before, one an hour ahead.
Let them add things for you if that's easier. It removes a whole category of admin.

Worth knowing: Add the calendar as a widget on your home screen so today is visible without opening anything.

Costs money Talk to a speaker

A smart speaker is an external memory you don't need to hold a device to use: helpful when the phone is in another room, or when your hands are busy.

How to set it up

Set it up in the kitchen, where most cooking accidents and forgotten timers happen.
Say “remind me at three to phone the surgery”: no unlocking, no typing.
Use timers constantly while cooking. “Set a timer for the rice for twelve minutes” gives it a name so you know which one went off.
Ask it the date and day as often as you like. Nobody is keeping count.
Link it to the same account as your phone, so reminders appear in both places.
Add a shared shopping list: anyone can add to it out loud, and it's on your phone at the shop.

Worth knowing: Pick one with a screen if you'd rather see today's reminders than have to ask for them.

For fatigue and pacing

Noticing before you crash

The goal is to spot the overspend while you can still do something about it, rather than after it has cost you three days.

Costs money A fitness tracker, read backwards

Ignore the step count. The useful numbers are resting heart rate and heart rate variability, which often shift a day or two before you feel the crash arriving.

How to set it up

Wear it for two weeks without changing anything, so it can learn your normal.
Find resting heart rate in the app and look at the weekly graph, not today's number.
A resting heart rate several beats above your normal for a couple of days is a common early warning.
If your device shows heart rate variability, a sustained drop points the same way.
Use it to justify a rest day when you feel fine but the numbers don't. That's the whole point of it.
Turn off step goals, streaks and move reminders. They push in exactly the wrong direction.

Worth knowing: If checking the numbers becomes something you do anxiously, take it off. A device that adds stress is doing more harm than good.

Built in Screen time limits, used as rest alarms

Sold for reducing phone use, but the same mechanism makes an excellent break enforcer, and screens are among the most fatiguing things you do.

How to set it up

Open Settings → Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.
Tap Dashboard, then the timer icon beside an app to set a daily limit.
Set limits low enough to trigger mid-afternoon, when a break is most useful.
Set up Bedtime mode, and consider using Focus mode to pause distracting apps during your best hours.
Focus mode can be scheduled, so it happens without you deciding each day.
Turn on grayscale within Bedtime mode if screens in the evening trigger headaches.

Worth knowing: Treat the limit as a prompt to rest properly, not a prompt to switch to a different screen.

Costs money A visual timer

A timer showing a shrinking coloured disc rather than digits. Time passing becomes something you glance at instead of something you have to read and work out.

How to set it up

Set it for a shorter block than you think you need, fifteen or twenty minutes is plenty.
Put it where you'll see it without turning your head.
Stop when it finishes, even if you feel fine. Especially if you feel fine.
Use a second block for the rest period, so the break has a defined end and doesn't swallow the afternoon.
Free app versions exist (search for “visual timer”) if you'd rather not buy the physical one.
The pacing timer on this site does the same job with a gentle chime.

Worth knowing: The physical version has one advantage: it isn't on the phone, so using it doesn't put you within reach of everything else on the phone.

Costs money Smart plugs as a stop signal

A lamp on a schedule is a cue that doesn't startle you the way an alarm does, and the same plugs can quietly handle some safety worries.

How to set it up

Plug a lamp into a smart plug and set it to dim or switch off at a fixed time each evening.
Use it as a wind-down cue: when the light changes, screens go away.
Set a second plug on your desk lamp to end a work block at a set time.
For safety, put appliances like an iron on a plug that cuts power after a set period.
Most plugs have a schedule in their own app: you don't need a smart speaker to use them.
Label each plug clearly in the app, or you'll forget which is which.

Worth knowing: A changing light is much gentler than a sound if you're noise-sensitive, and doesn't interrupt a conversation.

For overload

Turning the world down

Reducing what reaches you in the first place costs far less energy than recovering from it afterwards.

Costs money Filtered earplugs, not just ear defenders

Loop, Calmer, Vibes and similar lower the volume of everything without muffling speech, so you can still take part rather than being cut off from the room.

How to set it up

Choose a filtered type rather than foam plugs: foam blocks speech along with the noise, which isolates you.
Try them somewhere familiar first, so you learn what they do before relying on them.
Carry them permanently. Something in a drawer at home is no use in a supermarket.
Put them in before going somewhere loud, not once you're struggling.
Different filter strengths exist: a quieter one for cafés, a stronger one for crowds.
Noise-cancelling headphones do a similar job and cost more, but are far more visible.

Worth knowing: They also help in hospitals and waiting rooms, which are noisier than people expect and where you often can't leave.

Built in Cut the notifications

Every buzz is an interruption you have to recover from, and most of them don't need to exist. This is the highest-value ten minutes you can spend on your phone.

How to set it up

Open Settings → Notifications → App notifications and work down the list.
Turn notifications off entirely for anything that isn't a person contacting you.
For apps you keep, set them to Silent so they arrive without sound or vibration.
Set up Do Not Disturb with exceptions for a few starred contacts.
Schedule Do Not Disturb to run automatically during your best hours.
Mute group chats individually inside each messaging app rather than leaving them.

Worth knowing: If turning things off feels risky, start with one week of no notifications from anything except calls and messages. Almost nobody goes back.

Costs money A one-tap calm scene

If you have smart bulbs, a single scene that dims everything at once removes decisions at the exact moment you're least able to make them.

How to set it up

Set this up while you're well. It's no use configuring it during overload.
Create a scene in your bulb app with everything warm and much dimmer than seems reasonable when you're fine.
Name it something obvious like Calm.
Put the shortcut on your phone's home screen as a widget, so it's one tap.
Better still, add a physical button by the door or beside the sofa: no phone needed at all.
Tell the people you live with what it's for, so nobody turns the lights back up to be helpful.

Worth knowing: A smart bulb in one lamp is enough to start. You don't need to convert the whole house.

Free Sound to cover sound

Steady background noise masks the unpredictable sounds that snag attention (doors, voices, traffic) and is often more useful than silence.

How to set it up

Try brown noise first. Most people find it easier than white noise, which can feel harsh.
Search any music or video app for brown noise: there are endless free hours of it.
Download some for offline use, so it works in hospitals and on transport without signal.
Keep the volume low. It should sit under everything, not replace it.
iPhone has this built in: Settings → Accessibility → Audio & Visual → Background Sounds.
Use it in cafés, waiting rooms and open-plan spaces where you can't control the environment.

Worth knowing: Pair it with filtered earplugs for busy places, or with headphones where you need to shut more out.

For reading and getting started

Making tasks smaller

Most of these work by reducing what's in front of you at any one moment, rather than by helping you push harder.

Free Reader mode and Immersive Reader

Strips a page back to just the text: no adverts, sidebars, pop-ups or moving images competing for the attention you have.

How to set it up

In Safari, tap the page settings icon in the address bar and choose Show Reader.
In Chrome on Android, open the three-dot menu and look for Simplified view.
In Microsoft Edge or Word, use Immersive Reader: it adds line focus, showing one to three lines at a time.
Immersive Reader also lets you increase the space between letters and words, which measurably helps some people.
Set your preferred font and size once inside Reader; it remembers for future pages.
For anything really long, the focus reader on this site shows a few words at a time.

Worth knowing: If a page fights the reader mode, paste the text into a notes app instead. Plain text on a plain background is the goal.

Free Live captions on everything

Captions give you a second channel for information that arrived too fast the first time, and reading along takes far less effort than straining to catch it.

How to set it up

Turn subtitles on permanently for all television, not only when there's an accent.
On Android, turn on Settings → Accessibility → Live Caption: it captions any audio playing on the phone, including calls.
On iPhone, turn on Settings → Accessibility → Live Captions.
In video calls, look for live captions in the meeting settings: Zoom, Teams and Google Meet all have them.
Increase the caption text size in the same accessibility settings.
Use them on phone calls too, where there are no faces to read.

Worth knowing: Captions on video calls also mean you can look away to rest your eyes without losing the thread.

Free Recording appointments

You will not remember what was said, and taking notes stops you listening. Recording lets you do one thing at a time.

How to set it up

Ask first. Most clinicians agree readily when you explain it's because of memory problems.
Say the date, who you're seeing and why at the start of the recording.
Use Voice Memos, Recorder, or a transcription app if you'd rather have text you can search.
Ask the clinician to repeat anything important: recordings pick up mumbles no better than you do.
At the end, ask them to summarise the plan in a sentence. That's the bit you'll want later.
Share it with whoever helps you, so they aren't relying on your account of it either.

Worth knowing: Even if you never listen back, knowing it exists removes the pressure to memorise while someone is still talking.

Free A list that shows one thing

A full task list is itself overwhelming, and reading it can use the energy you needed for the task. What helps is seeing only the next step.

How to set it up

In whichever list app you use, find the Today or Focus view that hides everything else.
Break each job into steps small enough to feel silly: find the policy number, not sort the insurance.
Add a widget to your home screen showing a single next action.
Keep exactly one list. Several lists is the same problem wearing a disguise.
Put a date on things only when they genuinely have one, or the list becomes a wall of overdue red.

Worth knowing: If opening the app is itself the obstacle, write the next single step on paper and leave it where you'll see it.

Free Someone quietly present

Body doubling, working alongside another person, makes starting dramatically easier for a lot of people, and nobody has to talk.

How to set it up

Ask a friend for a silent video call while you both do your own admin.
Agree the length in advance, thirty minutes is plenty, so it has a defined end.
Say out loud at the start what you intend to do. That alone helps.
Mute, and just leave the call running.
Services exist that pair you with a stranger for a timed session if you'd rather not ask anyone.
Sitting in a café works on the same principle if calls are too much.

Worth knowing: The presence is the point, not the conversation. Talking usually makes it less effective, not more.

Do you use tech in a way that helps?

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