Why You Should Doodle Every Day

Often seen as a distraction, or the actions of a wandering mind, it turns out that grabbing a pen and doodling away has big time benefits. Those drawings you make—in the margins of whatever notes or projects you should be working on—are actually helping to make you more creative, healthy, and productive. The following tips are not only proven by real science, but are sure to inspire you to doodle a doodle or two.

So grab a pen a or a pencil and make some doodles while you read this post. You’re brain will thank you.

It’s Good for Your Mind

According to a 2009 study, the subjects that doodled while listening to a phone call were able to remember more details when quizzed later. It turns out that taking in too much information can put a strain on your brain, and in order to stay awake—or simply avoid running way—fidgeting in the form of doodling is a good thing.

Rather than let your mind wander, doodling while taking in important information can help you concentrate. As Jesse Prinz, a professor at City University of New York Graduate Center once stated, doodling keeps your brain in a state of pure listening. You’re more receptive to the information and you’ll also focus more on the big picture, and not every little detail which could get you lost.

It’s Good for Your Health

Finding the time to relax and relieve stress can do wonders for your health. We have so much going on, and in order to deal with all of the information that comes at us a daily basis, it’s necessary to have some mellow time. The simplicity and repetition of doodling, can allow us to let go without fear of mistakes and simply have fun.

It turns out that doodling also show what’s going on in our subconscious. The marks made while doodling can help us process emotions, much in the same way writing in a journal can help. Combine the two and you have a creative way to express emotion.

It’s Good for Your Creativity

As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, making drawing a part of your daily habit can do wonders for your drawing skills. Doodling can help you to feel more comfortable with a pen or pencil, and it can even make us happier. Those positive emotions linked with drawing will help you push past that inner critic and open new avenues of creativity.

A small detail or technique in a doodle can lead into a new work of art, or even allow you to reflect on creative ideas. Instead of waiting for inspiration during a creative block, a doodle can bring patterns and motifs to your attention, and give you a new perspective.