Benefits of Doodling for Stress Relief and Creativity

Last Updated on June 24, 2019 by Ellen Christian

Have you ever thought about doodling for stress relief? I’ve written before about how journalling for stress relief helps me some days but sometimes I want something a little bit less structured. I just want to make swirls and hearts and flowers while I daydream and relax. The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

Doodling for Stress

Creating any type of art can be great for stress relief whether that’s painting, pottery, or doodling. I don’t have any real artistic talent. My drawings look like stick figures and I’ve never been able to create paintings that actually look like what I want them to. For me, doodling is about as creative as I get when it comes to art. I just combine it with a bit of aromatherapy and my favorite herbal tea.

Mindful doodling

Despite what you think, mindful doodling can actually help you relax and be more focused on the present. We all have a mental checklist in our head of things we are focusing on almost all the time. “Don’t forget to pick up the dry cleaning.” “Why did Suzy’s teacher want a meeting?” “What is that noise the dryer is making?” These thoughts can help prevent us from living in the moment. And, they can contribute to our stress level. Doodling can help us eliminate these thoughts.

Health benefits of doodling

We all have times that we cannot concentrate whether it’s because we’re stressed, don’t feel well or have too much going on in our lives. Studies have been done that doodling can actually help relieve stress, increase creativity, and improve memory retention.

What is doodle drawing?

One of the best things about doodle drawing or doodling is that there are no rules about how to do it. You can create whatever type of doodle you want whether that means swirls, zentangles, squiggly lines, flowers, or anime figures. You can use pencils, markers, crayons or practice digital drawing. Or, you might want to doodle in a journal, on the back of your junk mail, in your planner, or on a digital tablet like the Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Creative Pen Tablet. It’s entirely up to you.

Paper-free doodling

I’m not one of those people that hold onto their journals or doodles to refer to in the future. For me, doodling for stress means relaxing. It’s the act of doodling that I find most relaxing. When I was offered the chance to check out the Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Creative Pen Tablet, I really liked the idea that it was a paper-free way to doodle.

Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Creative Pen Tablet

So, what exactly is the Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Creative Pen Tablet? Basically, it’s a tablet with a pen that allows you to doodle, draw, take notes, get creative, and edit photos. It uses special EMR technology that lets you use the pen to draw on the tablet. The pen comes with several different nibs that allows you to create the style of doodle you want to. Since it’s Bluetooth, you can use it with or without the USB cord.

The Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Creative Pen Tablet comes with your choice of free software if you register and create an account. I chose to use Clip Studio since it’s most often used for doodling and drawing. If you prefer, you can choose something that will help you edit photos or do digital painting.

How to doodle for stress with the Wacom Intuos

I’ll admit to being a bit nervous about using this. I’m not overly technical and I don’t learn new skills well. But, after a few deep breaths, I realized this is pretty easy. You simply plug in the USB to your computer, install the free software, open a new document, and use the pen sort of like a mouse except you draw with it. Then, like any paint type program, you can change brush thickness, fill in colors, write, etc.

The Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Creative Pen Tablet can be used for a lot more than doodling for stress. You can create comics or edit photos or create digital drawing masterpieces. But, if you are looking for a paperless way to doodle for stress relief, this is an amazing solution. Using a pen to create with feels much more natural than trying to use a mouse.

And, because of the way it’s created, it can be used by people who are left or right handed. It’s very responsive and the pen stroke gets lighter or darker depending on how hard you press, just like a real pen. It’s available in several different styles and you can buy it today at Best Buy.