The Science of Fidgets
Hacking Your ADHD is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Fidget spinners entered the popular vernacular in 2017 when they boomed in popularity. And when I say they boomed, they really boomed - in May of 2017, the sales of fidget spinners peaked, making up 17% of all online toy sales. Let me say that again, 17% of all online toy sales. That's an astronomical amount of market share - but of course, that's also because it wasn't just one company making fidget spinners, everyone was making fidget spinners.
The origins of the fidget spinner aren't the clearest. Many news outlets have credited Catherine Hettinger with patenting the original fidget spinner in 1993 (a patent she let lapse in 2005 because she couldn't pay the fees) but a Bloomberg piece that look at the "spinning toy" that she developed, concluded it wouldn't hold up as a patent for the fidget spinner. It is only similar in that it spins, it looks more like a small frisbee than a fidget spinner.
In 2015 we see the first real steps into fidget spinners as Scott McCoskery developed the Torqbar. It only has two arms, compared to the three that we commonly see now, but at its core, it is a fidget spinner. McCoskery created it as a toy that was going to keep your hands busy. But make no mistake, Torqbars are made of high-end metals like brass, titanium, and stainless steel and sell for hundreds of dollars. And despite the price, they were incredibly popular.
None the less we didn't see fidget spinners take off in popularity until Fidget 360. In 2017 17-year-old Allan Maman convinced his physics teacher to let him use the school's 3D printer to make a spinner. Maman enlisted the help of a friend, Cooper Weiss, and soon they were printing hundreds of spinners at their school - which the school promptly stopped them from doing, but not before they raised enough money to buy their own 3D printer. They formed the company Fidget 360, and from there, they made use of social media influencers to drive their sales. As the first company to be mass-producing the toy, they were soon raking in them dollar-dollar bills.
And now in 2020 fidget spinners are just thought of as a fad that faded away. Looking at the current rankings in Amazon's top toys, the highest-ranked fidget spinner ranks 3830th - so I'd say that yes, the fad is over, in fact, the highest-ranked toy in the category fidget spinners isn't even a fidget spinner. But fidgets have entered the mainstream. While the fidget spinner certainly wasn't the first fidget toy, it was the one that brought them into the public eye. Now when I search on Amazon, I can find dozens of different kinds of fidgets.
But now I'm also thinking about why fidget spinners disappeared. If they were so popular, why aren't they anymore? We could credit many schools banning them, but we all know how well banning things at schools go. And, sure fad culture has something to do with it, but I think it also has to do with the claims made by the companies making these toys. They were advertised as a way to increase focus and decrease anxiety, especially among those of us with ADHD and on the autism spectrum.
I'm sure many marketers ran with that idea and that it would benefit neurotypicals just as much - but none of those claims made were based on good science. Basically, people saw that some studies have shown fidgeting helpful for concentration for those with ADHD and then tried to use the transitive property to say that any fidgets were beneficial. Because of the rapid rise of fidget spinners, it took a while for science to catch up, but recent studies have been anything but conclusive - with some studies finding fidget spinners harmful to attention.
And that brings us to the crux of this episode, are fidgets helpful?
From fidget spinners, to cubes, to tangles, to clicking pens, to worry stones, to bouncing our legs - there are a lot of different ways to fidget and not all fidgets are created equally.
First, let's talk about attention.
When we're focused on one thing, it means that we're ignoring everything else. Think about hyperfocus - we're so keyed into what's in front of us that everything else seems to fade into the background. And our regular levels of focus act, in the same way, it's just that we don't really notice all that stuff that is being filtered out.
Let's say you are walking down the street talking with a friend - as you walk down the street, there are hundreds of things that your brain is taking in - you've got all the signs you see, all the sounds you hear, the smells. All of these things are trying to get our attention, and they do hold some part of it. There is a lot of information that is coming in that you are "aware" of but isn't what we'd call top-of-mind. It seems like we are ignoring all these inputs around us, but our brains are just holding them in check so that we don't step in that hole or walk into a pole.
On the other side of things, we got our conscious attention - these are the things that we are directing our minds to. While I'm out on that walk, I'm trying to pay attention to that conversation with my friend. While everything else is going on around me, that is what my focus and attention is on. I miss less of the conversation because I'm directing my attention there while I let the rest of the inputs around me get filter out - it's why I do step in that hole or walk into that pole.
When we're thinking about fidgets, it's important to think about the idea of stimulation. These are the inputs that we're trying to filter out - or in some cases, that extra inputs that we need. With ADHD, we need to seek an optimal level of stimulation to keep focused. If we think back to a boring meeting or a class where the teacher is droning on about the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act, then you know how despite your best intentions to stay focused, your mind just kind of wanders away. In fact, it doesn't even have to be that boring. I find myself drifting off while watching YouTube videos despite the fact that I'm only clicking on things that I supposedly want to watch.
So what's going on here?
Basically, everyone has an optimal level of stimulation to stay focused - even neurotypicals, it's just that it's easier for them to hit that threshold to hold their attention. With ADHD, we often have to work on making sure that we're reaching that optimal level of stimulation. And this isn't a case where more stimulation is always a good thing.
I used to do a lot of my writing in coffee shops. If I happened to forget my headphones, I might as well just head home because it was almost impossible for me to maintain my focus. This goes back to how we manage our attention - optimally, my brain would just filter out all those other conversations around me, but with my ADHD, that often doesn't happen. My mind will try and split its attention in two different directions and end up unable to focus on either thing.
But just as often we find ourselves under-stimulated, and this is where having a fidget comes in. So as I was saying earlier, I'll be watching a YouTube video, but I won't be able to maintain my focus even though it's an exciting topic. To help keep me engaged, I'll grab one of the fidgets on my desk - usually an infinity cube. The act of folding the cube over and over again gives my brain just enough to do that I can stop thinking about other things while not engaging me so thoroughly that I can't focus on the video.
Now I want to be clear here that everyone's optimal level of arousal is different. This is a big part of why it is so hard to study fidget toys. What works for me might not work for you. There are just too many factors in play to study fidgets well - not to mention that they are going to be different between adults and children.
This doesn't mean that we should be throwing fidgets out as something that don't work. As I've said, I use them quite frequently, the key here is that you are going to have to a self-scientist and figure out what works best for you.
So what does make a good fidget?
Well, the most important factor is that it doesn't engage you so much that you lose focus on what you're actually trying to pay attention to.
For me, this means something that I can do idly in my hands. The more I have to look at my fidget, the more likely it is that I'm going to lose focus. This means that things like fidget spinners are actually pretty bad fidgets for me. They are fun to play with, but I don't actually get much out of just holding them.
Top fidgets for me like this are, first, my favorite the infinity cube and then things like tangles, marble meshes, or fidget cubes. I just need something tactile in my hands that is going to let me put it down easily.
On the other hand, we've also got an enormous range of fidgets that don't fall into the toy category of things. You've got stuff like clicking your pen, swinging your keys, worry stones, or even just shaking your leg. These are all things that we'd play with normally to get out a little bit of that excess energy and help us focus a little more on the actual task at hand.
I'd also like to note though that just because a fidget is helpful for us focusing does not mean it is appropriate to always be doing. Think about clicking a pen - you get that sweet, tactile feel of the button clicking and the satisfying sound... but what if you're not the one clicking the pen. Holy hell, I will murder the person across the room, clicking their pen over and over while we're just sitting in the waiting room.
So yeah, we've got to consider how our fidgeting might be affecting other people. I try and be particularly aware of the sounds that my fidgets are making because my wife is sensitive to that kind of stimulus. If I was just going around clicking a pen all day, I fairly sure I'd be the one who was murdered. Another example that comes to mind is from my brother knitting, which serves as an excellent fidget for him - but at the same time, it can also make people think he isn't paying attention to them, because well he's knitting. The point being here is that our fidgeting isn't in a void. What we do affects other people, and we should at least try and keep that in mind.
One last piece here to add is that our phones can also sometimes serve as an effective fidget. But I want to emphasize that word sometimes - because they can easily be a double-edged sword. Say if you are playing a simple game and listening to a podcast. I know I have trouble just sitting and listening to something, so having something do that isn't taking up too much of my attention is help for me to actually focus. But our phones aren't great options most of the time - there are just too many other enticing options on there. While I'm playing my game, I might hear something that makes me want to make a note. So then I'll be rooting around on my phone for my note-taking app, and then I might see that Twitter icon and I'll just look at a couple of tweets - and don't tell me you'll just use self-control and not look at Twitter, we've got impulse control problems people, come on. And then suddenly, I'll realize that I paused my podcast 30 minutes ago and five pages deep on hashtag memes.
And that's not to mention how our phones just aren't that great in social situations, just like my brother's knitting people like to know that you are paying attention to them. So sure, maybe if you're watching some Tiger King go ahead and play some simple games at the same time so you can keep the focus on whatever it is that Joe Exotic is doing, but the rest of the time keep your phone put away, it's just too much of a distraction.
This Episode’s Top Tips
There are a lot of sketchy claims about fidget toys. Be wary of marketing claims, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater - figure out which fidgets work best for you.
Fidgets work by helping us manage our attention and focus. It can be hard for us to direct our attention when we're either over or under stimulated.
The best fidgets are things that we can do with our hands without looking at them - we don't want to be drawing too much of our attention to use them, just enough to help drown out the other outside stimuli around us.
Mentioned in This Episode
Hacking Your ADHD is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Fidgets
