Don’t fudge it, fidget and be proud
I AM a chronic fidgeter.
I’ve read all sorts of interesting articles in the past couple of weeks about how people with fidgeting problems tend to be more intelligent (why thank you — I like to think so, too), less stressed, and more productive than people who don’t fidget.
Fidgeters also have faster metabolisms. Fidgeting promotes more physical activity. I’m not sure about those ones, but I’m OK with being prone to it.
These articles have all been published off the back of the latest fad, fidget spinners. It’s gone so far that they’ve been deemed bad for children, but there are still bespoke adult versions in titanium for $200.
On my desk I have a Rubik’s cube, a slinky, a tangle teaser hair tie and an assortment of pens and pencils that I rotate.
The concept of purposely having something to fidget with seems counterintuitive to me. It takes away the impulse nature of fidgeting.
Because of my hyperactive habit I can do all sorts of wonderful pen tricks, I can roll coins across my fingers a la Captain Jack Sparrow and I can juggle or flip any sort of bottle. While these are cool, if you’re into that sort of thing, I also can’t sit still, I need to get up every half an hour and stretch, frequently shift in my chair, and generally drive my co-workers crazy (sorry guys). There are kids out there who genuinely need something like a fidget spinner or fidget cube to keep them occupied and grounded because a physical outlet for stress or anything that’s going on upstairs is important. There’s hundreds of mental diseases associated with fidgeting, including but not limited to anxiety disorders, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, withdrawals, schizophrenia, menopause and simply too much caffeine (I probably fall into this latter category).
The cognitive impulse to fidget comes from an elevation in stress hormones, according to the internet doctors, but it also can be a result of boredom or something as simple as dietary imbalances.
There is one important one that I think is missing, and that’s that some people are just fidgeters. My physical fidgeting allows for a quietness of the mind to help me work and concentrate. I’m not sure where that comes from.
But these kids with their fidget spinners? They’re using it for its most obvious purpose — as a toy, which is also fine.