Remote Frog

Sketching helps me think.

Before I build a presentation, shape an idea, or explain a process, I need to see it first. I need arrows, boxes, messy notes in the margins, when I move things, wipe out elements, redraw them… My brain loves thinking with a pen in hand. I use it to summarize posts, clarify workflows or routines, understand articles, prepare scripts for talks and even to support the talks themselves (I love using cardboards instead of slides)…

And yet, I also love digital tools. I love clarity, iteration, and the ability to turn a rough idea into something clean and presentable.

Lately, I have been using a workflow that gives me exactly that: the tactile joy of handwriting first, the automation that digital brings, and the polishing power of AI to round things off. I was unaware of how interesting this flow was until a teammate asked me how I had created a diagram. The one I’m sharing.

Step 1: I start on a Rocketbook

I use a Rocketbook notebook to draft ideas by hand. It gives me the best part of paper thinking, but with one huge advantage: it is erasable.

That matters a lot. When I am thinking visually, I make mistakes. I move concepts around. I add a box where there was none. I realize two ideas should have been one. I write too big. I write too close to another note. I draw an arrow that makes sense for thirty seconds and then becomes nonsense.

With a normal notebook, that can quickly become chaos. With the Rocketbook, I can wipe, adjust, rewrite, and keep going without losing the pleasant feeling of using a real pen on a real page.

Step 2: I take a photo and get it sent to my laptop

Once I’m happy with the diagram or the drawing, the thinking is done. The sketch may still look rough, but the logic is in place. I use the Rocketbook app to take a photo of the page, and it sends cropped, high-quality PDFs or JPEGs to specific locations like Google Drive, Dropbox, or my Email inbox. The content is also OCRed if needed.

Step 3: I ask AI to clean it up

Then I pass that image through an AI tool to fine-tune it. This includes making the diagram clearer, improving text readability, reducing visual noise, removing shadows, equalizing colors… in two words, making the whole thing look nicer and clearer, more presentation-ready.

WHY ALL THAT process when I could have asked the AI to create the diagram for me?

I am not asking AI to do the thinking for me. I am asking it to help me present my thinking better. That distinction matters. The structure, the content, and the relationships between ideas are mine. AI helps me sharpen the expression.

• It keeps the thinking human. I still begin with my own mental model, not with a prompt.
• It preserves the tactile experience.
• It makes iteration easier. Erasing and redrawing is part of the process.
• It improves the final result. AI helps me turn a rough sketch into something clearer and easier to share.

For me, this is one of those small but meaningful workflows where analog and AI do not compete. They collaborate.

Pen first. AI second. Best of both worlds.