When I was in school I used to doodle while I was in class, usually un-identifiable scribbling. I had one teacher in particular that this annoyed. She was convinced that unless we were looking at her we wouldn’t retain the information; the we’d “checked out” and weren’t paying attention. Well, she may have been wrong.
According to a British research team, those people they tested that doodled while listening to a long recorded phone message recalled 29% more info than those who did not. The theory is that doodling is a simple enough task to allow listeners to keep from daydreaming, and allows them to actually pay closer attention! Whoda thunk? And if you’re like me, I bet you’re feeling justified in your non-daydreaming doodling.
http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/624553.html
What an excellent study! I don’t know that this really rings true for me though. I remember, my notebooks from undergrad- the ones that had the MOST doodling were the classes that I was least interested in and ultimately did worse in.
I doodle, but mainly digitally. When using my PC I usually have Photoshop up on one monitor just to do some editing on my photos.
But during meetings I like having a notepad to jot down notes, or let hand wander while participating in the meeting. Much more effective than a laptop sometimes.