February 1, 2023
Life is busy. Between work, family and social engagements, it can seem like there’s never time for a break, but one Nova Scotia-based company believes they’ve found the solution.
Doodle Breaks specializes in helping people reduce stress, anxiety and burnout by learning how to use doodle breaks as a healthy habit to promote mindfulness.
The company offers interactive doodle experiences to de-stress through live keynotes, training sessions and an online learning platform. There are a series of guided books available as additional resources to encourage the power of building doodling as a healthy habit through prompts and activities.
Melissa Lloyd, its founder and CEO, was inspired to start the company after her own experience with stress and burnout.
“I was juggling work and home life. I have kids. We were trying to do it all and I was living every day on autopilot and a chronic stress state,” she said. “I had a choice: I can keep going and completely burn out, or I can try to figure out how I can slow down and take a break – guilt free.”
Using doodling as a healthy break gave Melissa clarity, which led to increases in productivity, creativity and happiness—and the creation of Doodle Breaks.
Melissa believes doodling can be especially beneficial in tech, as experienced with a recent Doodle Break session for Adobe. Their main objective was to provide their team with permission to take a break and regain their creative confidence as the team was under much pressure to perform.
“When you’re always on the screen and you’re not able to disengage, we don’t realize how much that can take from us mentally.” she said.
“I believe that creators in the tech industry face incredible pressure. They are constantly in a state to perform creatively. When you are stressed it is creativity and innovation that decreases. One way to help navigate and manage pressure in a positive way is by taking breaks and allowing moments of mindfulness. Going back to basics like doodling, helps us with this and unlocks the most powerful part of our brain.”
While she understands the crucial role technology plays in society, she’s a big proponent of taking breaks from always being plugged in and on.
“Whether it’s scrolling or watching the screen, this long term behaviour impacts our well-being in a negative way, contributing to unhealthy habits and a decrease in our productivity,” she said.
The practical uses of mindful doodling as a stress reliever have already been transformative through her work with various communities, such as those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to the corporate industry.
“Doodle Breaks has helped to reduce peoples’ stress, calm anxiety and regulate emotions,” said Melissa.
Doodle Breaks has a big year ahead in 2023.
“We’re fully redesigning the Doodle Breaks experience online,” Melissa said. “Doodle Breaks is launching globally in Spring 2023, which I’m really, really excited about. This means more people can experience and be positively impacted by the power of mindful doodling; resulting in people feeling better, working better and living better.”
But the biggest impact is: “providing a natural way for people to reduce their stress levels through awareness, insight and an actionable new resource. All you need is to put pen to paper (or tablet), and have fun! No prior artistic experience needed.”
Interested in learning more about Doodle Breaks and how it can help you de-stress? Check out their website and get doodling!