Productive Coloring: 7 Things to Do While You Color

 

Coloring is the perfect opportunity to relax and unwind. Unplug for a little while — turn off your computer, silence your phone, and focus on the right here, right now.

I’m going to let you in on a secret, though. Sometimes I like to do a little more than just lounge and color. I am a born multi-tasker. It’s hard for me to sit still and focus on one thing, and especially hard if that still and solitary time is not being spent working on something productive. (Maybe instead of “born multi-tasker” I should really be saying “born over-worker”…)

Is that like blasphemy in the coloring world or something? Sure, perhaps coloring is a little more therapeutic if you are putting all your mental energy behind it, and I’ve definitely colored some really cool things while wholeheartedly focusing on the motion of pencil on paper. I totally see the appeal of having your mind fall blank as you’re happily filling in a mandala, for instance. It is a chance to just let go, and for a while focus on nothing but the colors and the peace.

But if you work full time, or you have kids demanding your attention, or you have something else eating up most of your free time, you may crave the relaxation of coloring but not know how on earth you’ll ever be able to fit it in. Should you actually schedule time to color?

Well, yes. You definitely should.

But scheduling it alongside something else might make that two or three hour block on your calendar a little more palatable.

Without further ado, here are some ways you can “color productively” — some things you can do while coloring to really go the extra mile.

Listen to an audiobook.

One of my favorite ways to color productively is to listen to an audiobook while I color.

I read a lot. Partially just because I’ve always loved reading and writing (fiction especially), and partially because my work offers an incentive program for reading certain books outside of work, such as skill-building or self-improvement books. It’s a nice perk! It’s even nicer that I can consume a lot of those books while commuting to and from work and while relaxing with a coloring book.

Studies have shown that doodling during lectures helps you pay attention and it can even make you a better writer. I believe that the same qualities that make doodling so good for remembering and processing what you hear in class also make coloring a good memory retention tool.

Because listening to audiobooks keeps your hands free, I am always tempted to multi-task in some way while listening. I have found that I am more likely to remember what I listened to if that multi-tasking is coloring instead of something like driving, cleaning the bathroom, or doing dishes. There’s just something about the repetition that makes it stand apart from those other activities. Plus, it’s a heck of a lot easier to pause and jot something down when I’m coloring than when I’m driving or my hands are covered in soap suds.

Some audiobooks are free and in the public domain, especially classics whose copyrights have expired. There are thousands of these free audiobooks on LibriVox. Most of these books are from the very early 1900s or earlier.

If you want to listen to something more modern, it’s worth checking your local library. My boyfriend actually worked at a library for several years until leaving to focus on his music, and he taught me how to get ebooks and audiobooks from Overdrive. If you visit your local library, they would be happy to show you how! Usually you can determine just by searching their online catalog if a particular book is available via Overdrive.

If I can’t find the audiobook I’m looking for for free, I use my Audible account. Audible is a subscription service offered by Amazon where you get access to one new audiobook per month for $14.95 a month. I know what you’re thinking… just one book per month?! I know, it’s tough. Fortunately, you can buy additional packages of credits, or get additional audiobooks one at a time for 30% off. You keep your audiobooks, even if you cancel Audible. If you want to try Audible to see if you like it, you can click this link to get two free audiobooks and do a one month free trial!

Get lost in a podcast.

If you can’t commit to a whole book (hey, I’m currently 10 hours into a 14 hour audiobook, so I hear ya, it’s not a commitment to be taken likely), podcasts are the way to go. They are shorter — usually about an hour — self-contained, free, and just the right amount of sound for a brief coloring session. Serial, the renowned podcast that investigates the full story behind a crime, is a perennial favorite, but I’m a huge fan of NPR’s podcast lineup (especially Hidden Brain!). You can also get individual podcast episode recommendations at Earbud.fm.

Have a smartphone? That makes podcasts even easier! I use the free iPhone app Overcast to download and listen to podcasts. It can automatically let you know when new episodes are available, and it saves your place if you have to pause and turn your attention elsewhere. Since I don’t use Android I don’t have a good suggested alternative if you don’t use Apple products, but rest assured that there are many options out there.

Make new friends.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… coloring is more fun in the company of friends! Coloring by yourself is a relaxing activity, but getting together with a group and adding a bottle of wine just kicks it up a notch.

Cleverpedia’s got everything you need to find a group, start your own group, or host a really nice coloring party!

Click here to see our list of coloring clubs in the United States — our collection includes multiple clubs in almost every state, so hopefully you’ll find something close by! If you know of another club that isn’t on the list, I would love it if you could submit it, by the way!

Want to host your own gathering? Awesome! I’ve got a how-to guide for starting your own coloring club, and this post will show you how to throw a wine and coloring party!

Binge watch your favorite TV show or movie.

While I usually prefer to listen to audiobooks or podcasts while I color, that doesn’t stop me from sometimes wanting to binge watch a TV show. Usually for me audiobooks are more productivity oriented (though there are a ton of novels on there, too), whereas watching TV is my total guilty pleasure, what I do when I just want to chill.

Obviously it takes the right kind of TV show to watch while coloring. You shouldn’t watch an M Night Shyamalan movie, or the two hours you just put into that mandala might all be for naught when the aliens appear at the window and you jump out of your skin. That doesn’t sound relaxing at all, right?! I also wouldn’t watch anything too insanely serious — if I’m glued to the screen, I’m not going to be coloring, and if I am going to cry, that’s not really the mood I’m going for when I color, either!

For me, there are three kinds of TV shows and movies that work really well: documentaries, reality TV, and romantic comedies.

Documentaries work really well for watching while coloring because they often rely much more heavily on interviews and narration than on what is actually on screen. Plus I love learning new things! I am absolutely in love with the documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux and I’ve seen pretty much all his BBC documentaries. You know, just in case you need a suggestion!

As much as I am loathe to admit it, reality TV makes for some good coloring background noise. You don’t have to overcommit to a storyline (many just follow the same plot with new characters from show to show, anyway) and they aren’t overly serious or depressing (most of the time). I may or may not have completed 80% of my final project as an art major while watching every episode of Hoarders available on Netflix at the time.

And finally, ahhh, romantic comedies. What can I say — I am a girl, I love a good chick flick! Bridget Jones’ Diary is my go-to fave, and I’m working my way through The Mindy Project one coloring page at a time.

I would recommend stand-up comedy shows, too, but a recent close call when I burst out laughing made me reconsider that one.

If you have a TV, you can plop down on the couch during prime time, but if you’re like me and have cut the cable, there are some good services you can replace it with. Everyone knows Hulu and Netflix, of course. If you have Amazon Prime, they actually have a ton of movies and TV shows available to stream, too. You can try Amazon Prime Video free for 30 days right here!

Make cards to send to friends and relatives.

This is a slightly different form of multi-tasking, but why not use your coloring as an opportunity to create thoughtful, handmade gifts for your loved ones?

There are a lot of options out there for coloring postcards or greeting cards that you can send out in the mail. While I love the form factor of coloring postcards, in my experience they can get a little roughed up in the mail! You can still tuck the postcards inside an envelope, though, and the selection seems to be better for coloring postcards than for greeting cards. I should do a roundup of coloring cards soon, but in the meantime, here are a few options:

Secret Garden: 12 Coloring Notecards Lost Ocean: 36 Postcards to Color and Send Daydreams: 20 Coloring Postcards Fantastic Cities: 20 Postcards to Color Pretty Pattern Postcards to Color

Turn your coloring into a gift.

You don’t have to stop at greeting cards, though. Why not use a patterned coloring page as thoughtful wrapping paper, or cut some Christmas-themed coloring pages down into seasonal gift tags? You can see these ideas and more (decoupaged furniture? Gift bows? Mandala plates, anyone?) in this post about DIY things you can do with coloring pages when you’re done coloring.

Relax with music.

If you don’t want to have to focus on anything while you color, you can “multi-task” by listening to music. Some coloring books come with their own music CD included, or you can provide your own tunes.

Listening to music is scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety, and can even relieve depression according to some studies. By adding the mental health benefits of music to the mental health benefits of coloring, you’ll be practically unstoppable!

So where should you get your tunes? I’m partial to Apple Music, which gives you access to a lot of music that is available on iTunes to play at will for just $9.99 a month. I listen to pop music, musicals, and classical music.

Again, if you have Amazon Prime, you’re in luck. Amazon Prime has their own great on-demand music service, Amazon Prime Music.

I also have a great pair of headphones that I use to listen to my music (or my audiobooks, TV shows, or podcasts), since I live in an apartment with a musician and have to keep quiet! I use Bose QuietComfort 25 noise cancelling headphones. They are easily the nicest headphones I’ve ever used! The cup around the headphones is a buttery soft leather and they don’t pinch your head like some headphones do. Best of all is how well the noise cancellation works. Here is my attempt at explaining it based off the explanation my boyfriend gave me: they actually have a tiny microphone on the outside of the headphones that picks up the noise of the room, and then they emit the opposite audio frequency, completely cancelling out the noise. We have a dehumidifier and an air purifier running in the same room I color in, and I can’t hear either of them with these headphones.

What do you do while coloring?

Well, that’s it — that is pretty much the full list of things that I do while coloring to really ensure I can afford that block of time in my schedule.

I’m absolutely not saying you HAVE to do any of these things — in fact, sometimes I totally just sit down and color without anything else going on, and it’s awesome. I can ignore my phone, my computer, and all the notifications from the outside world and just color.

But for fitting coloring into a busy life, a lot can be said for multi-tasking. It is a lot easier to justify the time I’m spending coloring when I’m also reading a book that will help me perform better at work, or listening to a podcast or documentary that is teaching me something new. Not to mention the memory-boosting powers of doodling, which I believe also apply to coloring!

Plus if I just totally want to veg out and watch TV, the coloring makes the activity feel less passive and more productive. Win-win!

So what do you like to do while you color? There are no wrong answers here — if you prefer to just color, that is totally 100% okay! Same if you like to listen to the radio or watch reality TV. I’d love to hear more about what you do while coloring in the comments below.

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