
Dr Robert Burns (who led the Institute for Human Development at the University of Seattle) gets his patients to doodle as a way to access and diagnose their emotional issues.

In other words, doodling keeps our minds grounded in these long meetings or classes instead of running astray to daydream about our next holiday.Īs the act of doodling can be carried out at a somewhat ‘thoughtless’ and random level – a doodle can be a great way to tap into the unconscious mind. The study found that doodling fires up the brain’s ‘executive resources’ which is a term to define cognitive processes that allow us to multi-task, concentrate and plan. Better Concentrationĭoodling has also been linked to concentration thanks to Andrade’s study which went on to explore the relationship between listening and the act of doodling. All were unaware of a memory test succeeding the listening sessions from which the doodlers emerged triumphant recalling 29% more information than the non-doodlers. Andrade asked 40 participants to listen to an intentionally rambly voicemail – during the listening session, half of the participants doodled whilst the other half did not. Psychologist Jackie Andrade explored this topic in a study back in 2009. Improved Memoryĭoodling has been scientifically proven to improve the retention of information as well as focus and concentration on the task at hand. Read on to discover more about the awesome benefits doodling can offer. There are in fact a number of psychological and mental benefits that can be gained from allowing your pen to roam free on the page from time to time – it’s linked to improved focus and a greater retention of information.

Have you ever caught yourself doodling in a long meeting or in a lecture? The act of doodling is commonly associated with the dawdler and the distracted, however, fear not, recent research seems to disprove these tags.
