Get Your Doodle On! Why It’s Beneficial To Doodle At Work

We may not all be artists, but everyone can doodle. And what may typically be considered as rude and disrespectful (especially in the middle of a meeting, or while on a phone call), doodling has been proven to be anything but! 

Yes, we’re giving you permission to fill blank pages with squiggles, patterns, stick people and anything else your heart desires—and if your boss hits you up about it, here’s why it is completely acceptable to put pen to paper and get your doodle on at work. 

It makes you a better employee

We know that doodling may be seen as impolite or bad-mannered—in that you’re not listening to what is being said or not doing your job. However if we look at all the benefits that come from doodling, maybe it is a narrative that needs to change! 

By doodling, you actually become a better employee, as it helps us to be more productive, and more attentive. That’s because free doodling enables us to focus, get inspired, enhance creativity, alleviate stress and think outside the box—so take that, boss person! 

It comes highly recommended that if you’re struggling to concentrate or finding yourself stuck on a task—a time-limited doodle expedition will allow you to more creatively approach an obstacle. 

In a meeting environment, a little doodle here and there is actually about keeping your brain active, because it’s pretty easy to switch off in meetings that should have been an email. By giving your brain mini ‘breaks’ to doodle is kind of like standing up to do a wee stretch—but without the whole room looking at you strangely. 

It helps our brains retain more and perform better

And before your boss says ‘what a load of...’, there has actually been some pretty extensive scientific research carried out on doodling. And the findings are very interesting indeed! 

One study was conducted with 40 participants who had to listen to a monotonous telephone message for the names of people coming to a party. Half of them were given a doodling ‘assignment’ where they shaded printed shapes while listening to the message. The outcome was that those who were doodling performed far better than those who didn’t—recalling 29% more information on a surprise memory test.  

Another study found that after three minutes of ‘free doodling’ time, participants said they felt like they had more good ideas and could solve problems better than before the activity. 

Get sorted with the right tools to ‘inspire’ 

To get the best results from your doodling, it’s ideal to have the right tools to do it. For example, a dedicated space to let your creativity shine through on paper that is preferably not on important documents or meeting notes. And it just so happens, we have the notebooks for you! 

By having ‘Doodles I drew during important work meetings’ or ‘My book for writing stuff and drawing penguins’ on hand at all times, you can ensure you’re always ready to get down to business (doodling) when there is the occasion to do so! 

Can we also just take a minute to appreciate how awesome this boss is: 

And here’s a tip: Make sure you have this blog saved to your bookmarks, so when anyone questions your doodling motives at work—you’ve got this to back you up! 

Browse WTF Notebooks

Love doodling? Get your hands on some of our hilarious WTF Notebooks, the perfect doodling journals for yourself, friends and family.