How to Coach Yourself and Others Essential Knowledge For Coaching | Page 294

A really useful tool for personal brainstorming - and note-taking
generally - is the wonderful Bic 4-colour ballpen.
The pen enables you quickly to switch colours between red, blue,
black and green, without having to walk around with a pocketfull of biros.
Using different colours in your creative jottings and written
records helps you to make your notes and diagrams clearer, and
dramatically increases the ways in which you can develop and
refine your ideas and notes on paper. To prove the point, review
some previous notes in black or blue ink using a red pen - see
how you can organize/connect the content, still keeping it all
clear and legible.
This simple pen is therefore a brilliant tool for organizing your
thoughts on paper much more clearly and creatively than by
being limited to a single colour - especially if you think in visual
terms and find diagrams helpful.
For example, using different colours enables you to identify and
link common items within a random list, or to show patterns and
categories, or to over-write notes without making a confusing
mess, and generally to generate far more value from your
thoughts and ideas. Keeping connected notes and ideas on a
single sheet of paper greatly helps the brain to absorb and
develop them. Try it - you'll be surprised how much more useful
your notes become.
The principle is the same as using different colours of marker
pens on a flip-chart. Other manufacturers pro