When you’re sitting in class, have you ever drawn pictures in the margins of your notebooks? If so, your teacher might have told you to stop. Many people think of doodling as a distraction from more important things. But it might be just the opposite.

  One study shows that doodling may help you remember things you hear. In 2009 researchers asked two groups of people to listen to a phone message. One group was encouraged to doodle, but the other was not. Neither group knew that it would be asked to remember information from the message. But the group that doodled remembered 29 percent more.

  Other people have suggested other uses for drawing. Jesse Prinz, a professor who studies doodling, says it can help you think creatively. Walking away from a problem to draw might actually help you solve it. When you come back, you’ll have a fresh perspective and figure out an answer more quickly.