Bored? Try Doodling To Keep The Brain On Task

I find that I often need an avenue in which to dump excess bandwidth if I'm going to be focusing on content which is primarily auditory. For instance, playing TF2 or Minecraft while listening to lectures actually really helps me listen to the content, though I usually score badly in the game since I primarily just need something to hypnotize my visual processors so that bandwidth is available for auditory (instead of idle visual processors which then scan looking for something to process, causing high potential for distraction) and don't involve myself too much in what I'm doing in the game (or else focus shifts to the game instead of the lecture).

Interestingly, I've gotten in trouble both in school and at work for doodling during classes and/or meetings. I didn't care, I just quit both and started my own company. :x

My philosophy teacher was nice enough to allow me to doodle in her classes. She believed it was a positive thing. But - and I never told her - the doodling actually distracted me from the class. I was always lost when I emerged and tried to listen to her, leaving me to put the pieces of the puzzle back together during homework. (I still kept doodling, listening to monologues has always been a problem with me, and I was not much of a responsible person back then).

Maybe we could say I was not doodling, but actually drawing? Or maybe the problem was that the drawings subjects were not related to the class? Now it occurs to me that if I had set a challenge to myself where I had to illustrate what she was saying, it could have solved my boredom and at the same time helped me focusing on her teaching.

I find it really hard to doodle and listen at the same time. I'm terrible at drawing (really, any art in that family), and even drawing a few random lines I'll suddenly realise that oh shit, I don't have a clue what the person on the phone just said to me.

I do only do it when I'm actually bored by the call, not when I'm subconciously bored - so it's not a problem too often.

TED talk by Sunni Brown on the same thing: http://blog.ted.com/2011/09/23/doodlers-unite-sunni-brown-on...

For some great math-based doodling videos, check Vi Harts blog: http://vihart.com/

I particularly like "Snake and Graphs": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heKK95DAKms

Keep meaning to try "zentangles" which appear to be a different form of doodling, a la http://www.amazon.com/3450-Zentangle-Basics-Suzanne-McNeill/...

Perhaps I will wait until I have some long conference calls coming up...

Doodle or Die (doodle.no.de/) has worked for me... you don't even have to come up with your own ideas.

Speaking of doodling, check out my friend's site: www.doodlersanonymous.com

I like graph paper for making vaguely mathematical doodles in classes. I even happened to independently "invent" a few concepts while doing this, like triangular numbers and the polyomino sequence. :-)

I sit in meeting and draw 3-D boxes and traces around them - it's the only way I can keep part of my brain busy so I can focus on what people are saying.

Interesting. During long conference calls, I recently discovered that if I play angry birds, I'm better able to hold attention to the call. To add some context, I've already spent countless hours with the game. It's somewhat challenging, but I don't find myself thinking too hard about the game itself.

Glad to know the over 5000 fictional insect species I've drawn over the years were not completely useless. However, I find talking to myself / a figment of my imagination is even more effective at keeping me concentrated. Unfortunately, there are not many places where that is appropriate.

Meditation might help here.

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