The Importance of Fidgeting
Sometimes a piece of our mind rebels against a task. It makes life miserable. Instead of reading the research article you are supposed to, you find yourself distracted by all the wonders of the internet or by all the things you have to do or even by how nice it would be if you mopped the floor right now. The article either does not get read or you “read” it, looking at words, but not really comprehending it.
This is when you need a little distraction in order to concentrate. For example, mint gum might help you to focus because that little part of your mind will be taken up by the flavor and the process of gum chewing. You could use candy for this (if it won’t mess up any other part of your life). Another option would be to use a hand exerciser (a squish ball) in your non-dominant hand while you are reading. You can also sit on a pilates ball as you are reading. These types of distractors work better than the television or an mp3 player because they are not producing spoken or sung language which can keep you from focusing on what you are reading.
Not only does fidgeting help adults, but it can help children, particularly those who are distracted easily. Having something like play-do or a squish ball to play with can help a child focus on what the teacher is saying. You can actually try this with a child to see what works. For example, if the child makes little animals with the play-do and then goes off into an imaginary world and doesn’t even hear the teacher, then the play-do is not helping. If the child is bouncing on a pilates ball and can tell you exactly what the teacher said, then the distraction is working really well.
We often think that people have to be looking at us directly and putting all their attention on us in order to be listening. Yet this kind of situation may be when a person is most distracted by other, more desirable thoughts and ideas because of that little uncooperative part of the mind. Children and adults who are fidgeting in one way or another may not look like they are listening but they may actually be doing a better job of listening than someone who does look focused.
The key is to test these possibilities out on yourself or on children to find out what works and then to make sure a child’s classroom teacher understands how the quiet fidget can help the student behave better and complete his or her work better.