Psychologist proves doodling improves concentration at boring meetings

After half a century, a psychologist has finally proven that Carol and I were on the money when we told teachers we could concentrate better in class when we tended to our knitting, literally. Of course, most teachers didn’t appreciate our explanation and barred us from occupying our hands with needlecraft, so we had to work harder to pay attention to their lessons, which were often pretty boring. But there were a few good guys. I remember at least three, two women who taught Sophomore and Junior English, and a man who taught either history or Spanish. Perhaps both allowed it. At any rate, I just remember that those were our favorite classes. 

Now, Jackie Andrade, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Plymouth, U.K., has demonstrated that when people are stuck in a boring meeting or listening to a tedious conversation, they can concentrate better and remember more from the encounter by doing something else besides just listening, such as doodling. In fact, doodling is the activity she had people use in the test, and it proved that Carol and I knew what we were talking about. Those who doodled remembered about one-third more information from the boring lecture they were subjected to than the group that were forced to just listen without using their hands productively.

Andrade explains what most people probably knew anyway: In a boring discussion, minds naturally begin to wander. "A simple task like doodling may be sufficient to stop daydreaming without affecting performance on the main task," Andrade says. "In everyday life, doodling may be something we do because it helps to keep us on track with a boring task, rather than being an unnecessary distraction that we should try to resist doing."

So, thank you, Jackie Andrade, for coming to Carol’s and my defense. You’re about 50 years late, but the effort is appreciated all the same. At least today’s students might be able to use this excuse when teachers catch them drawing cartoons of the school principal as a devil.