Remarkably Focused

When I have been on-site with clients recently, many people have taken notice of one of two tools that I use consistently. They are often intrigued after observing, and then casually ask: What is that?

My answer, with a big grin, “It is ReMarkable!”

Over my career, I have tried out many planners, systems, gadgets. Never finding anything that was quite right for the way I work. Until I landed on these two tools: my reMarkable and the Full Focus Planner.

I share them not because they will necessarily work for you. But to illustrate why they work for me. So that if you find you are not yet happy with your methods, you can keep trying, until you find your magic too.

The name says it all: It. Is. ReMarkable.

I have always been a person who takes notes in meetings, conversations, group sessions. Not the minutes for everyone, but notes for me.

As my colleague Mike McCartney says: Ink beats Memory.

I write things down, usually on a personal notepad, in order to imprint it into my memory.

And yes, I occasionally go back to the prior notes as I prepare for a next conversation, but I typically find that the act of writing itself has cemented the key points from the conversation.

Why?

Because…

The act of writing keeps me focused on listening, attentively. Hearing the other person fully. Drawing things out in the conversation so that we understand each other better. The act of writing is an aid to me in listening.

The act of writing, physically on a notepad, etches the information. I process it twice: first as I hear it and second as I capture it on my pad.

The act of writing means that I do have something to refer back to in case there is a key item that I want to refresh myself on or look at in more detail.

I have always been that person who is taking personal notes in meetings.

And the typing version of this is largely ineffective for me. Different parts of the brain firing I guess. Typing takes my attention away from the conversation rather than toward it.

As a consultant and advisor, with dozens of client projects going on at any time, I found it best to have a separate notepad for each project. Each pad would have a chronological run of details for that project.

And so, as I switched from client to client or project to project throughout the day, I would switch notepads. Life was good.

Then came the rush of pandemic life, where there were all virtual meetings with no on-sites. Things started to get unruly in my office with a growing array of client projects and literally switching from being with someone in Washington State to another in Virginia and then to Vermont and back in a day.

Locating the proper notepad for the next conversation, in the 30 seconds between Zoom meetings.

And… my outlay for notepads was approaching my sizable investment in Post-It ® notes (for those who know me well, will know what I mean).

Enter. ReMarkable!!

A colleague in Australia wrote about it one day and he described his new found love.

This has been truly remarkable for me too and my style.

It has all of the benefits and none of the downsides of my former note pads.

It is portable. It has the touch and feel of a pad of paper as the side of my hand brushes on it. It allows me to use different thicknesses in my pen stroke from marker thick to pencil thin. It imprints the conversation as I write.

AND yet it is all contained in one “device” less than a 1/8” thick.

All of my physical notepads are now called Notebooks inside my reMarkable. And collections of Notebooks can be all together, yet distinct, inside a client folder.

I can switch from one to the next with just a couple of clicks of the pen.

I can erase in just the same way as I would on paper but even better because it vanishes entirely. This required the upgraded pen but it has been well worth it.

I can also readily share a note page, or a notebook, or a section with a colleague with a few clicks. Sending off either as a PDF of my written notes or through ‘convert to text’ which takes my hand scratch and turns it into the typed word.

When facilitating a client focus group session, I can copy over a similar outline from a prior session in my reMarkable and then tailor it to the specifics of the next session.

Cut. Copy. Paste. Highlight. Draw. Share. And much more.

I am delighted when someone is intrigued enough to ask.

Yes, I am a convert. Bye bye paper notepads. This is a keeper. It fully lives up to its name. I find it truly reMarkable.

The other tool – my Full Focus Planner ® – we can chat about if you are interested. I know we all have our favorites. It took me over a decade to find ones that make me hum.

I never leave home without these in my bag.

P.S.: Although both tools have affiliate arrangements, I have chosen not to go that route. I’d rather just recommend either when it’s the right thing for someone I am working with. No incentive attached.

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Kathy Letendre, President and Founder of Letendre & Associates, advises organizations and leaders to create their excellence advantage.
Contact Kathy by phone or text at 802-779-4315 or via email.