The Wall Street Journal “Doodling for Dollars” is about how major corporations are encouraging doodling to prevent boredom during meetings, better conceptualize ideas and help employees remember better. One WSJ commentator called this “Pictionary gone wild.” This technique can be used in the home office as well.
A handy write board wall for ideas and problem solving
In the home office you can doodle:
- during conference calls instead of just taking notes,
- when you are stuck solving a problem or
- to clarify concepts or processes for yourself, clients or colleagues.
Trivia Tip: There is neuroscience behind this. Notes and numbers use the left side of your brain, while pictures use the right side of your brain. Using pictures/cartoons/symbols helps your brain make connections words and figures cannot. Use all of your brain.
So many people I meet say they are visual. Why not set up your office to support visual thinking or brainstorming with images. No need to be a Rembrandt, a few squiggles is all you need.
IdeaPaint allows you to jot notes, ideas, images anywhere. So many walls in tech companies are painted with Ideapaint that employees write on any white surface – including walls without IdeaPaint – much to the chagrin of facilities managers who have to clean them. But this demonstrates once you get started doodling and thinking big it gets addictive.
If painting a wall with whiteboard paint doesn’t work for you or your space try WhiteyBoard. This is a removable plastic sheet that can be used like a white board. I have a big WhiteyBoard in my home office and use it all the time. If find it great for ideas that come to me while I am working on something else. I just grab a dry erase pan and jot or doodle the idea. And it doesn’t get lost like a note on a scrap of paper.
Or simply grab a BIG piece of paper and start doodling.
