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.