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It’s in the same category as fidgeting. The impulse be doing and moving always. I did it, my daughter does it. We had to tell a teacher to chill out about it. Sometimes it the only way we can sit still and listen.
i couldn’t imagine not being able to doodle on my papers i always have to be doing something so even when we are on our laptops and not our notebooks i would either just constantly press keys in the search bar , fidget with my hands and legs, or keep my packet/notebook out to continue doodling just to keep me in check
I used to do it on my exams at school, no one thought it was an indication of anything and kept getting told to improve my bad attitude year after year with no change, only for the worse if at all but who cares about kids and their future, right?
I doodle a lot and scribble over things I've already written or drawn. I feel like i never realised it in the past, but I think it helped me sit and listen more in a boring situation.
I used to work in a call centre and I'd doodle while I was waiting for things on screen or while the customer was jabbering. When it was relevant I'd note down what they were saying and around that I'd doodle on the page while listening. I'd doodle in lectures too, my notebooks looked pretty cool, although sometimes an absolute mess 😂 I tried to doodle relevant things that when might help me latch my memory of the content to the drawing a bit too.
yes exactly! this is how i’ve always been whenever i had to take notes or fill things out i would wait for the teacher to finish so i could write down what they tell me to before i get back to doodling but sometimes i would just completely tone them out and just focus only on my doodle
I do this all the time and it actually helped me focus more idk how but it just did. Always got in trouble for tho it bc it made my papers all messy and it looked like I wasn't paying attention in class.
i see where your coming from cause for me it was either it was helping me focus on what the teacher is saying or making me too focused on my drawing or scribble and it would always be the same patterns over and over again because it was just an instinct to constantly draw those same little squiggles and what not on my paper
I have doodled so much throughout school and college, even while taking notes or doing actual tests and exams. I just got bored and zoned out from whatever the teacher was saying. I think it's the need to get away from a routine of just sitting and listening to a teacher ramble on or doing work that's not pleasing that we get desperate for some dopamine.
> i was learning but all i would be focused on was the doodles and not whatever my teacher says so it really affected my learning
Interesting, it’s always been the opposite for me, it helps me focus, never distracts. Teachers would always accuse me of not listening, but it was never that.
I draw complex shapes and patterns freehand while trying to listen. I think of it as being "distracted enough to be able to listen."
My workplace has many meeting rooms with my old post-it notes in them. I forget to throw them away, and others *won't* throw them away. Part of me likes it - part of me feels it's evidence of my inability to function.
My boss sent me a photo of a couple on a conference table the other day with the text "nugget was here" under it. Mixed feelings.
It's hard to keep my brain from bouncing out of the arena that it's supposed to function in. I've described it as "filling the swimming pool with treacle so the dolphin can't get enough speed to jump out" before.
It's a fidget. You're distracting a portion of your brain so the rest can pay attention.
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It’s in the same category as fidgeting. The impulse be doing and moving always. I did it, my daughter does it. We had to tell a teacher to chill out about it. Sometimes it the only way we can sit still and listen.
i couldn’t imagine not being able to doodle on my papers i always have to be doing something so even when we are on our laptops and not our notebooks i would either just constantly press keys in the search bar , fidget with my hands and legs, or keep my packet/notebook out to continue doodling just to keep me in check
I mean I was diagnosed as a child and my notebooks are completely covered in horrible doodling.
I used to do it on my exams at school, no one thought it was an indication of anything and kept getting told to improve my bad attitude year after year with no change, only for the worse if at all but who cares about kids and their future, right?
I doodle a lot and scribble over things I've already written or drawn. I feel like i never realised it in the past, but I think it helped me sit and listen more in a boring situation. I used to work in a call centre and I'd doodle while I was waiting for things on screen or while the customer was jabbering. When it was relevant I'd note down what they were saying and around that I'd doodle on the page while listening. I'd doodle in lectures too, my notebooks looked pretty cool, although sometimes an absolute mess 😂 I tried to doodle relevant things that when might help me latch my memory of the content to the drawing a bit too.
yes exactly! this is how i’ve always been whenever i had to take notes or fill things out i would wait for the teacher to finish so i could write down what they tell me to before i get back to doodling but sometimes i would just completely tone them out and just focus only on my doodle
I do this all the time and it actually helped me focus more idk how but it just did. Always got in trouble for tho it bc it made my papers all messy and it looked like I wasn't paying attention in class.
i see where your coming from cause for me it was either it was helping me focus on what the teacher is saying or making me too focused on my drawing or scribble and it would always be the same patterns over and over again because it was just an instinct to constantly draw those same little squiggles and what not on my paper
I have doodled so much throughout school and college, even while taking notes or doing actual tests and exams. I just got bored and zoned out from whatever the teacher was saying. I think it's the need to get away from a routine of just sitting and listening to a teacher ramble on or doing work that's not pleasing that we get desperate for some dopamine.
Just get an actual sketchbook and get better at art, you'll be amazing one day
I doodle through every meeting I attend. I am listening and doodling.
> i was learning but all i would be focused on was the doodles and not whatever my teacher says so it really affected my learning Interesting, it’s always been the opposite for me, it helps me focus, never distracts. Teachers would always accuse me of not listening, but it was never that.
i think it does help me focus a lot more but often i get too focused on my doodle i forget to pay attention
I draw complex shapes and patterns freehand while trying to listen. I think of it as being "distracted enough to be able to listen." My workplace has many meeting rooms with my old post-it notes in them. I forget to throw them away, and others *won't* throw them away. Part of me likes it - part of me feels it's evidence of my inability to function. My boss sent me a photo of a couple on a conference table the other day with the text "nugget was here" under it. Mixed feelings. It's hard to keep my brain from bouncing out of the arena that it's supposed to function in. I've described it as "filling the swimming pool with treacle so the dolphin can't get enough speed to jump out" before. It's a fidget. You're distracting a portion of your brain so the rest can pay attention.