Mild fidgeting includes moving your hands and feet, continuously tapping your fingers or a pen on your desk, getting up and moving around often, or pulling on pen caps and paper clips with your fingers or your teeth.
And even though you may not even realize that your fidgeting, other people can see you.
Unfortunately, fidgety people can develop a reputation for being anxious, annoying, angry, unsupportive, or unreliable.
And while none of these words describe who you really are or say anything about your work ethic, the impressions you make on co-workers, friends, and others can stay with you for a long time.
Why Do You Fidget?
Most people engage in fidgeting during the day. Many scientists and researchers believe that fidgeting can help people stay focused and calm. People will sometimes find objects on their desks and move them around mindlessly because they’re bored or because they lack sensory stimulation.
Fidgeting helps people regain their focus during long meetings, when writing, or when participating in other drawn-out tasks that require extended periods of focus and concentration.
However, some people have an underlying health condition such as Adult ADHD(Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) or RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) that can cause fidgeting.
You should consult your physician to determine if you believe you may have one of these conditions – if for nothing else than to rule these health conditions out.
Lastly, increased stress or anxiety can cause fidgeting. For example, if you recently received a job promotion at work, you may experience increased stress due to all the added responsibilities associated with the promotion. This could lead to increased fidgeting.
So, How Can You Manage Fidgeting at Work?
Once you have a better understanding of what’s causing your fidgeting habit, it’s time to find constructive ways to minimize or control this habit when at work.
Here are some quick tips you can use to help manage fidgeting at work:
Limit Workplace Distractions
Limit workplace distractions to help you focus on the tasks you need to get done during the day. If you have a private office, close the door to reduce outside noise. If you work in a cubical, use noise-canceling headphones so you don’t hear your office neighbors talking, typing, etc.
Try to keep work-related conversations and casual conversations separate. While it’s good to take a break every now and then by talking with a co-worker about your weekend plans, favorite TV shows, and movies, try to limit these conversations to specific times like in the morning, during your lunch break, or during your mid-afternoon break so you stay focused on work-related tasks during the day without interruption.
Take a Few Minutes to Breathe
Before giving a presentation, sitting in on a long meeting, conducting an interview, or making a sales call, take a few deep breaths to help relieve stress. Breathing deeply helps reduce tension in your body, regulates your heart rate, and allows you to mentally prepare for difficult tasks and situations.
Deep breathing also helps you stay focused on tasks that require quick decisions or answers to problems and issues associated with your work. Rather than reacting to what’s going on around you, take a few deep breaths, think through the problem, then take the appropriate action.
Get a Stress Relief Toy
Sensory toys allow you to manage fidgeting without calling attention to your movements. Keep one or more of these fidget toys cheap on your desk for easy access. Look for toys with rough, rubbery, or smooth textures. Textured toys help you relax and feel calm during stressful situations.
Sensory strips can also help people with Adult ADHD, RLS, and children with autism who need ways to manage their fidgeting while maintaining their focus. As effective sensory toys for autistic children or for people who suffer from mild fidgeting, autism toys and sensory toys can also help reduce stress and anxiety.
Sensory stimulation increases creativity, enhances problem solving skills, and helps both children and adults feel more in control of the world around them. Use your stress relief toy any time you feel fidgety or when you feel stressed.
Whether you suffer from mild fidgeting, or you have a medical condition, these sensory toys can really help you get through the workday without excessively fidgeting.
Avoid Multi-Tasking
Even though you may have multiple projects or tasks to work on during the day, you should avoid multitasking and instead focus on one task at a time for shorter periods of time. For example, spend 30 minutes in the morning answering emails, then switch gears and work on an upcoming presentation for a while, then move on to reviewing a report, etc.
Unfortunately, juggling multiple tasks at the same time can cause stress, which can lead to excessive fidgeting. By carving out specific times during the day to complete daily tasks, your productivity should increase and your stress levels should decrease.
Take More Breaks during the Day
Every hour or so, get up and stretch, or take a quick walk around the office. Staying still in one place for long periods can take its toll on your physical health and on your mind’s ability to stay focused. Your brain needs sensory stimulation to stay alert. In other words, a change of scenery, if only for a few minutes, can reenergize your brain so you can get work-related tasks done.
Taking short breaks throughout the day also gives your brain time to process new information. Your body will thank you too as walking around helps keep muscles and joints loose and limber. Moving around helps prevent leg cramps and other annoying pains associated with long periods of sitting.
Find Healthy Ways to Reduce Stress
You can reduce stress by exercising, eating a healthy diet, engaging in your favorite hobbies, and getting enough sleep.
Take it one day at a time: If you’re new to exercise, try to work out three days a week and increase to four or five days over time. Slowly incorporate healthier food into your diet rather than changing all of your eating habits at once.
Try to go to bed a little earlier each night so you can get the sleep you need to function throughout the day. Find some time during the weekend to enjoy hobbies and fun activities.
In Conclusion
By incorporating a few of these tips into your workday, you should be able to manage fidgeting in no time at all! Remember, fidgeting isn’t a bad habit – it’s something that most people do throughout the day. But if fidgeting is something you want to manage, now you have some tips that can help.
About Fidget Strips
Fidget Strips provide a textured surface for you to move your fingertips across whenever your need to. With two textures to choose from, rough and satiny, these fidget toys cheap help reduce stress, anxiety, and allow you to regain focus during the day.
Available in solid black and multi-colored, these sensory strips stimulate various senses at one time.
Place our stress relief toy near your workstation, or attach one to the back of your cell phone, tablet, or laptop for quick access when at work, at home, or when traveling. Easily remove and reuse these strips at any time.
In addition, our sensory strips are the perfect sensory toys for autistic children! If you have a child with autism, give them one of our autism toys to help evoke feelings of calm and relaxation.
With a 30-day return policy and a one-year warranty on all our products, you can feel confident about your purchase!