Unleashing Creativity: The 5 Benefits of Doodling for Mind and Soul

1. Doodling helps prevent daydreaming and keeps the brain attentive by keeping it in a neutral and standby state. ​

2. Doodling engages the brain in a repetitive task, similar to knitting, which helps corral extra brain waves and keep them engaged subconsciously. ​

3. Doodling relaxes the brain and encourages creativity, allowing fresh ideas to surface and important memories to be refined and remembered. ​

4. Doodling can help process emotions that may be difficult to express in words, providing a visual outlet for describing and soothing emotions. ​

5. Doodling is a meditative practice that calms the mind and gives it a break from sorting through thoughts, preventing mental chaos.

Staying Focused in a meeting…

I have always felt uneasy whenever a meeting was scheduled. I knew that attending a meeting would be a challenge for me. Although I tried my best to remain attentive and focused, I often felt isolated in my struggle. Unless the topic of the meeting was interesting to me, I found myself drifting away.

With all the noise going on in my head, listening to someone on the outside is always difficult for me.

My brain seems to have a mind of its own and decides to take a break, leaving me feeling like it's taken a vacation without me. It jumps out of my head, waves goodbye, and strolls off, leaving me lost and disconnected.

The act of paying attention was excruciating. All I could think of was how I couldn’t wait for the meeting to be over and to be released from this torture. I would swivel in my seat, cross and uncross my legs, clear my throat, anything to carry me through.

Here are some tips on how I stay focused that may be helpful to you as well.

Be prepared

Please ensure that you are well-prepared for the upcoming meeting. Be sure to have a clear understanding of the purpose and agenda of the meeting. Review any important information or documents that may be relevant to the meeting. Avoid any potential embarrassment by being caught off guard and responding with "I have no idea" if someone asks you about the meeting agenda.

EAT something

Having a snack works wonders for me. I keep a jar of mixed nuts on my desk to give me the energy boost I need to stay alert and focused.

Meet Remotely

I prefer to communicate with my clients over the phone or through email and messaging. I have had many clients whom I have never met in person, but I have been able to handle everything remotely. However, there are times when I cannot rely on remote communication.

Bring a notebook

Writing things down not only helps to record the information for later but also engages your brain and prevents it from wandering off. Taking notes during a meeting is an excellent way to appear attentive and connected. It is completely acceptable to doodle while taking notes, as these seemingly meaningless drawings can help you to remember the discussion later on.

I hope these few simple suggestions can help you with your next meeting. Even when I'm gathered with a group of friends and we're all talking sometimes I will be drawing on my iPad. When they ask me if I'm engaged in the conversation, I always say "absolutely." And then pointing to my iPad, I say, "this is my knitting."

The Miss Piggy puppet

Many years ago, when my partner (now my husband) and I were living in Minneapolis, for his birthday I wanted to surprise him with a vintage 1980's Miss Piggy puppet.

He had one as a child and it was his favorite cherished toy. Unfortunately it was thrown out I believe by his mother after he had gone to college. So, I wanted to reunite him with a "new" old one.

It was easy to find on ebay and I purchased one in the middle price range. It didn't matter if it was in the box or not and this one looked like it was in good shape.

He was at work the day it arrived and as I brought the box into the apartment, our three cats ran over and were suddenly very interested. I knew why the moment I opened the box as the most pungent smell of Cat piss began to film the room and I shut the box quickly in disgust and immediately took it to our detached garage.

When Jason came home, I told him what had happened and we both went to the garage and sadly gazed at what could have been an amazing birthday present.

It remained in a corner in our garage for several months. We were now moving to Chicago and Jason was heading out with the cats and I was going to stay and tie up loose ends and catch up with him.

All the boxes had been loaded into the moving truck and off they went. The condo was empty and so I thought I would give the garage one last look to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything.

I immediately saw the Miss Piggy box in the corner and I picked it up and placed it in the exact center of the garage floor so I could sweep around it. I wanted the new owner to be greeted with a nicely swept and clean garage.

I was in a hurry to leave and I was well on my way when I realized, I had left the Miss Piggy puppet in the garage. In the exact center of the garage. It seemed intentional. I was too far on my way to Chicago to turn around. I wondered, what on earth the new owner was going to think of this.

I imagined him opening the door to his new and very nice duplex condo. There were two floors! He would look around with excitement and then see the garage remote on the kitchen counter. "Oh that's right!" he would say to himself, "I have a garage!!" and he would grab the remote and head out back to survey his new garage space.

He would stand before the door, raise the remote and click it and watch the garage door ceremoniously open. The very first thing he would see is the box placed in the exact center of the floor. This would strike him as odd but he would be intrigued as he stepped towards the box, picked it up and opened it.

WHAT on earth did he think?

I never heard from him.

I never heard from the realtor.

All I knew was that as a housewarming gift, I had lovingly left him a Cat piss soaked Miss Piggy puppet.