Embrace Imperfection—Drawings Are for Thinking, Not Just for Sharing

It’s late in the evening, and the only light in the room is a desk lamp. You sit down to finally address something you’ve put off—a choice about next steps at work, or maybe a lingering conflict. With nobody to impress and no deadline to meet, you sketch without worry: lopsided faces, disconnected boxes, lines that wander onto the margin. As you do, you find yourself talking softly, describing how each blob represents an idea, a worry, or a goal.

After a few minutes, you realize something odd: Saying and drawing together, even in this loose, jumbled way, makes the issue clearer. There are moments of embarrassment—your drawing is objectively bad—but because this is just for you, the pressure fades. By the end, you have two or three genuine surprises on the page—connections between people or options, a previously unnoticed roadblock, a hope you’d only vaguely felt before.

Studies on expressive writing and visual thinking show that this kind of free sketching helps your brain process emotion, organize information, and move past analysis paralysis. It doesn’t matter if others ever see it—the act of creation and narration is for your own understanding, not for anyone’s approval.

Tonight or tomorrow, grab a piece of scrap paper and pick an issue nagging at you. Draw it out as quickly and badly as you can, describing out loud what each weird element means. Pay attention to what sinks in differently when you see and hear it, with no one judging. Note just one new idea or connection you’d have missed in your head alone. This simple habit turns confusion into clarity and puts you back in control. Try it on a personal or work decision whenever you feel stuck.