Doodling in meetings makes you more effective

I do like to doodle. Often find myself doing it in meetings.

Well, the good news for folk like me is that doodling may actually help us absorb information, according to a study in Applied Cognitive Psychology, reported in Business Week:

"Jackie Andrade at Britain's University of Plymouth played a rambling
voice-mail message to 40 people, half of whom were given shapes to fill
in as they listened. The result: The doodlers recalled 29% more of the
message than those who just listened. Andrade says idle scribbling uses
just enough cognitive bandwidth to prevent daydreaming, so it may help
us stay focused. One boardroom doodler, retiring GM Vice-Chairman Bob Lutz, says he isn't surprised by the finding. 'I can
look at old sketches done in meetings 40 years ago,' he says, 'and
experience sudden recall of the room, the table, the voices.'"

Cool eh?

Image from happydoodleland.