Fidgeting

By Jayden Loper '31

When you are in school, you see people with different types of fidgets like clickers, rubik’s cubes, and shapeshifters. You sometimes might wonder why people always bring these toys and always are clicking them. If you have wondered that, this might be your answer. In this article, I will research the reason why fidgeting is a daily occurrence in almost everyone, and inform you about why. 

~What is fidgeting?~

Fidgeting can occur subconsciously, and research suggests that it is a physical response to intense focus or stress.

~What does fidgeting look like?~

Some examples of fidgeting can include: Tapping feet, Clicking a button, Drumming fingers, Clicking a pen, Chewing gum, Frequent blinking, etc.

~ The Reasons~

Fidgeting is a thing people like to do for many reasons. One is it can help with your concentration in class and it helps sharpen your focus and memory. One study found that when people doodled over a phone call, the people who doodled actually remembered more details of the call than people who didn’t!

Another reason is actually surprising. If you fidget a lot during the day, you can lose 800 calories in a day! Crazy, right?

Fidgeting boosts your attention and alertness, which is vital for getting good grades and having a happy life! It also acts as self-stimulation for yourself. 

Fidgeting may be a behavioral coping mechanism for pent-up stress and anger inside us. These behaviors are usually classified as “disruptive” but it is just your body helping you.

Fidgeting can be vital for self-regulation, which helps enhance focus and the other reasons listed before.

~Is fidgeting good for you?~

In the end, we all know fidgeting has many different benefits for your mental and physical health. But there are also a few downfalls to it also. 

Fidgeting can be distracting to your peers and mates around you, and decrease social status which impacts your mental health. 

Fidgeting can be good for focus and concentration, but sometimes it actually takes your focus away from the important things. In some cases, if the fidgeting process requires too much of your motor skills, it takes your attention away from the main focus, but to the fidget itself. 

~Conclusion~

In the end, you know people like to fidget because you see it every day in people you see out in public. But your question was, “why do they like fidgeting so much?” And this article showed that it can help with focus, mental health, physical health, and more. But there are also some downfalls to it. But in conclusion, fidgeting is a daily practice with many people in all situations. So if this answered your question, you are welcome.