Performance on boring tasks is aided by doodling

Discover Magazine - Bad News for Teachers: Research Says Doodling Boosts Concentration

This article reviews the other news sources; A small (40 person) study reveals that if there is a choice between doodling and doing 'nothing', doodling improves performance. The participants were asked to listen and write down various names and places during a boring phone message. After, they were given a surprise memory test of the names they wrote down. Those asked to color in the shapes of the words and such (ostensibly to relieve boredom) scored better than the control, who probably just 'daydreamed' or stopped paying attention. The contrast here is between doodling and daydreaming, not between doodling and paying close attention or otherwise being interested in whatever you're doing. The theory here is that doodling alleviates boredom with the task but also allows just enough attention, while daydreaming is a drift in attention that negatively affects performance. [Note that the memory test the participants were given asked them to write the names they had previously doodled on-- an alternate theory is that the doodling made additional memorable connections that the control group didn't make.]