Fidget!

CHEW A STICK OF GUM

Gum tastes good, and it’s a workout for mouth and mind alike. With every chew, snap, and pull, a single stick of gum is working to improve your skill during cognitive tasks like math and writing, increase your focus, and make you more productive. Pop a piece of gum—assuming you’ve got the go-ahead from any observant higher-ups, of course—and get chewing when you need to work through some budgeting tasks or craft a long letter. While a single piece can give you the alertness you need, you can also chew consistently throughout the day to keep your alertness and focus consistent. Feel free to chew a stick whenever you feel a little antsy or distracted, and you can focus on the act of chewing while working.

The very first study that scientifically connected chewing gum with brain performance and focus was conducted in 1939. In the decades since, many more studies have claimed similar findings—and more recently, chewing gum as a fidget was proven to boost individuals’ moods and alertness in addition to offering attention-boosting benefits. Together, scientific studies report that fidgeting via chewing gum leads to increased happiness, lower levels of job-related stress, reduced fatigue, and improved performance during challenging and demanding tasks.

CRUNCH ICE WITH YOUR TEETH

Quick, before that ice melts! Put those frozen cubes to work for you and start chomping. Gnawing on ice cubes helps you think through complex problems while writing and performing other demanding cognitive tasks. As you fidget, you’ll stop your focus from flagging and give yourself a quick concentration boost. Crunching through frozen water stimulates your focus and your productivity and is a great variation on the standard chew-fidget. If your teeth aren’t up to this task, you can achieve similar effects by sucking on the cubes until they melt.

Known as “mastication-induced arousal,” chewing ice or any other difficult-to-chew item sends wakeup signals to your brain, improving focus and drawing your attention to what you’re trying to concentrate on. What ice lacks in taste, it makes up for by boosting your attention span and your ability to focus. Just keep in mind that this fidgeting method only provides a brief lift, meaning you’ll want to use it for quick tasks or the most difficult ones rather than an all-day productivity strategy.

CHEW AT YOUR LIPS OR CHEEK

High-energy people often find themselves fidgeting without even realizing it. If you tend to chew on your lips or bite your cheeks, you’ve already developed a helpful fidgeting habit. When focus starts to fade, chewing on your lips and cheeks evokes the gum-chewing effect, in which moving your mouth improves concentration and gives you an outlet for your energy. Even though you’re working hard to stay still and on task, that chewing motion allows for a little bit of satisfying, boredom-defeating movement while you work. You can chew the edges of your lip, clench your jaw, or chomp at the skin inside your cheek; all of these fidgeting techniques have the same impact.

It’s common for people to fidget by chewing their lips or the insides of their cheeks, and scientific research explains that it’s not just an outlet for energy but a source of stimulation too. When we need to concentrate deeply, our brains want to use our mouths to express that thinking. By keeping the mouth moving in some manner, you’re freeing up your brain to concentrate on the task because it won’t have to worry about reining in your mouth or tongue. Let yourself chew, bite, and gnaw freely, and your stress levels will decrease as your attention span, response time, and productivity increase.

GRAB A CHEWY, CHALLENGING SNACK

Chewing a gooey, sticky, or challenging snack while working or learning is the perfect way to fidget yourself to better alertness and productivity. Grab a sticky granola bar, a stubborn piece of toffee, tough beef jerky, or a lollipop filled with a chewable center. Any snack that requires you to work your mouth in order to enjoy it is a great fidgeting tool. As you work to eat these difficult foods, you’ll develop a rhythm that keeps distraction at bay, improves your mood, and makes working more enjoyable.

The act of chewing, licking, or moving food around in your mouth will keep you calm and focused as you work on potentially difficult or frustrating problems. Your mouth is kept busy by the tricky treat and your brain doesn’t have to try to control or instruct it. Instead, your mental focus can be directed solely at whatever you’re working on. You’ll also improve your reaction time, as your intense focus will make you better able to adapt and adjust quickly.

DRINK DECAF INSTEAD OF CAFFEINATED COFFEE

If you need to increase focus, coffee is a natural choice to sip on while you work, but too many trips to the coffee machine, as we all know, can make your mind wander and give you the urge to twitch in an unproductive way. (Jitters and fidgeting are not the same thing.) Opt for a hot mug of decaf instead and pretend it’s caffeinated!

Using your imagination sparks the placebo effect and keeps you busy by “fidgeting” as you reach for your cup and take regular drinks. Studies show that while we assume it’s the caffeine in coffee perking us up, even a cup of imaginary decaf sparks creative thinking and increases productivity. While an excess of caffeine makes the mind wander, amped up and unable to focus, a pretend cup makes you feel as though every sip is benefitting your work speed. The key is in the act of imagining what you’re drinking is something entirely different. Every time you take a sip, imagine that the warm beverage is fueling your motivation, and you’ll begin improving your attention right away.

TASTE A BIT OF MINT

Take advantage of the benefits of herbs and amp up your productivity with the taste of mint. Whether fresh or synthetic, mint-flavored foods and drinks help improve focus and fight off the boredom and sleepiness that come with a long workday. When you taste fresh mint or something filled with peppermint flavor while trying to pay attention, you’re subconsciously fidgeting your way to improved information retention, better focus, and stronger cognitive function. You don’t have to do anything more than bite, suck on, chew, or drink something minty; simply grab a peppermint stick, enjoy its taste, and you’ll likely become more focused.

A study by Wheeling Jesuit University examined the effects of the flavor of peppermint on working people. Tasting peppermint was found to improve problem-solving skills, enhance judgment, boost the attention span, and strengthen memory skills. Researchers at Coventry University also found in a recent study that those who chewed mint gum increased their energy and felt more awake—adding benefits beyond the fidget of gum chewing alone by making mint tasters more alert. Opt for minty flavors of chewing gum, or skip the gum entirely and stick with drinking mint tea, biting a spring of fresh mint in your mouth, or snacking on mint cookies.

BITE YOUR PEN OR PENCIL

Your family and friends think it’s gross. So what? Chewing on or biting your writing utensils is a fidget that fires up the brain, improves your mood, and alleviates excess energy that can distract you, so we say chew away!

Go ahead and gnaw at the wood of your favorite pencil brand, or bite the cap of every pen at your desk. You can stick your pen in your mouth and pull it side to side; you can chew on a pencil eraser, leaving bite marks along its length. No matter your method of fidgeting by chewing a writing utensil, it’s both enjoyable and helpful.

If you’ve ever felt anxious trying to keep your pens and pencils out of your mouth, you already know a little about how this fidget works. Putting a writing utensil in your mouth, according to researchers, forces you to use the very same muscles that get used when you smile. Every bite and gnaw relieves stress and makes you feel happy—you’re almost tricking yourself into enjoying your work. The movement of your facial muscles also means you don’t have to sit entirely still while listening, thinking, or reading. This small motion sends those feelings of distraction out of your mind and into your muscles, helping improve your focus while you bite.

TASTE SOMETHING SUGARY

Stop avoiding sugary drinks and improve your attention span by sipping on sodas and juices—just try not to drink too much of them in the process!

A surprising sensory fidget, sipping a sugary beverage gets your mind back on track without being distracting or time consuming. The fidget is an easy one to follow: take a sip of lemonade, soda, or juice. Swirl the liquid around in your mouth, then spit it out into another cup or straight into the trash. The trick is to swirl, or taste, drinks made only with real sugar; artificially sweetened drinks made with Splenda don’t have the same effect.

Sugary beverages are energy boosters thanks to the excited “high” they create, but because sugar causes attention and focus to plummet when the crash hits, they aren’t thought of as beneficial productivity solutions. However, researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that just a taste of sugar improves both mental focus and self-control. When individuals swirled and spat out sugary drinks, they performed tasks faster and were more motivated to complete challenging problems. The sugar stimulates sensors on the tongue, and those sensors connect to the brain’s motivation center. It’s like a quick shock that nudges your mind to return its attention to work.

SIP CINNAMON-SPIKED COFFEE

Coffee alone is a great taste-centric fidget thanks to its hot temperature and caffeine boost, but adding a bit of cinnamon to your cup provides another way to perk up your mind and get yourself focused. Make your usual mug of coffee in the morning or afternoon and add a small amount of cinnamon. Stir to combine, sip away, and reap the benefits from this unique drink. A dash of cinnamon makes you feel alert and reduces feelings of stress or frustration regarding a task or assignment. You can even skip the coffee altogether if you’d like; cinnamon alone gets your attention back on track and improves your mood.

Cinnamon improves mental processing capabilities, making it the perfect choice when you’re struggling to complete a task or understand new information. This spicy addition also kick-starts overall brain function, helping you think more clearly and react more quickly. Lastly, visual and motor skills become sharper when you consume cinnamon coffee, helping you fight off the sluggish feelings that come with a dull task or weighty workload.

EXPLORE CITRUS

The taste of citrus is like a bright spark that kicks your attention into gear and gets your thoughts focused on the most important parts of your day. The smell and taste of citrus fruits increase speed, hone attention, and improve performance. A little goes a long way, as a whiff, bite, or small sip of orange, lemon, or lime helps ensure you’re both paying attention and avoiding mistakes. Research conducted at Reading University found that drinking orange juice increased individuals’ work speed and ability to focus on mental tests. Other studies found that citrus keeps the mind alert, helping maintain steady concentration during tricky tasks and performance consistency for as long as 6 hours.

Fidget your way to better focus with the following citrusy ideas:

• Drink a glass of fresh orange juice

• Sip strong, sour lemonade that mimics the taste of real lemons

• Drop a lemon slice into your water

• Chew on orange slices

• Add a splash of lime to any beverage

• Cut open a citrus fruit and keep it nearby while working, allowing you to inhale its scent

ENJOY GINGER CANDIES

Ginger candy might sound like an unusual choice, but sucking on this slightly spicy, somewhat bitter hard candy does wonders for focus. All you need to do is take your time breaking the candy down in your mouth, savoring and swallowing it to its very end. The actual fidgeting involved in eating the ginger candy helps exert distracting energy, but the crucial element is the ginger it contains. Sucking on ginger improves both memory skills and attention span, keeping information in your brain as you learn and ensuring your thoughts don’t wander to an entirely new place.

Make sure that the candy you choose contains real ginger extract or root. It’s the plant itself giving you a boost, so artificial ginger flavoring doesn’t add anything to this simple fidget. A favorite herbal remedy of many, especially in Asia, ginger helps cognitive function in a number of ways. Furthermore, ginger makes your reaction time faster, aiding you as you try to speed through your workload without losing your motivation or squandering your attention span. Your brain and your productivity will thank you for this unusual and tasty form of fidgeting.

SNACK ON YOUR FAVORITE CHOCOLATE

Scientific research has been kind to chocolate in recent years, discovering a wealth of health benefits in many varieties. We now know that chocolate can boost cognitive performance and lengthen the duration of your concentration, improve working memory and organization, and help abstract reasoning, as well as scanning and tracking skills.

Snack on a small piece of dark chocolate while you work and you’ll improve your focus, remember facts and details more easily, and stay on top of challenging tasks.

Psychologist Merrill Elias and researcher Georgina Crichton found that choosing chocolate as a snack affects cognitive function in a few different and positive ways. The duo’s research compared chocolate eaters to non-chocolate eaters and found that the cognitive capabilities of those who ate chocolate were significantly better. Chocolate fans performed better on small tasks, too, such as recalling series of numbers or lists of information and multitasking. Bite into chocolate, and everything from your shopping list to your screenplay will become easier to focus on.

DELAY THE JOY OF CHOCOLATE

Although chocolate brings cognitive enhancement when eaten, choosing not to eat that very same snack can also help you fidget your way through a task for better results. Place a piece of your favorite chocolate within reach, and your focus will strengthen while you avoid the treat in question. Resisting the temptation to enjoy chocolate may seem a “tasteless” way to fidget, but choosing to delay a delicious treat for even a short time improves focus, can lead to better performance on tasks, and helps keep distractions at bay.

Part of the reason distractions are so appealing is their promise of gratification—we want to give in and give up to enjoy something more exciting and more rewarding than a challenging or boring piece of work. In 1968, Walter Mischel began conducting “marshmallow studies” that tested delayed gratification and its impact. Children who resisted taking a marshmallow placed within reach were rewarded with a second treat. Yet the rewards extended beyond another marshmallow. Those who practiced delayed gratification performed better academically and achieved better test scores, coped with stress more effectively, and were better at resisting distractions. The benefits of saying no to chocolate, even just temporarily, translate into better focus and distraction elimination. Put off a piece of mouthwatering chocolate rather than giving in to the urge to snack on it, and success in maintaining focus becomes easier.

SUCK ON LOLLIPOPS (OR HARD CANDY)

Keep your tongue, teeth, and taste buds engaged while you plan, prep, clean, organize, or file, and you’ll hold your focus on a given job for a longer period of time. Pop a piece of hard candy into your mouth and take your time sucking on it, moving it around as you enjoy its flavor. Any food item that takes a while to eat or break down in your mouth is an excellent source of fidgety fun. The following make for great tasty fidgets:

• Peppermint candies or candy canes

• Sticks of rock candy

• Thick, solid squares of caramel

• Popsicles

• Flavored hard candy discs

• Hard breath mints

The act of sucking on a hard object like a popsicle or lollipop connects to our oral sensory skills. Kids often demonstrate how sucking streamlines attention and regulates the body: children are constantly putting things into their mouths, seeking stimulation and movement as an outlet for their energy and desire to move. Sucking something slowly and turning it over in your mouth, letting it hit your teeth, is soothing and calming while also active. Like chewing and physical body movement, this act “distracts” the extra energy that drives us to want to move around and frees up our brain to focus. Until the candy breaks down, you can move it around and crunch it to pieces to keep your central focus on something more important.

EAT SOMETHING SUPER SOUR OR SPICY

The sharp sting of an incredibly sour food and the slow burn that spreads through your mouth from spicy snacks are sensations you can turn into fidgeting methods. Whether you love the zing of spicy and sour treats or cringe with every bite, these two extreme taste profiles can give you a jolt of improved focus along with that incredible shock of flavor. Choose a spicy or sour food that carries a powerful punch of taste—something that doesn’t register as very spicy or super sour for your taste buds won’t pack enough of a punch.

Try a sour, spicy treat like:

• Dill pickles

• Lemon juice (not sweetened)

• Spicy salsa

• Sour gummy candies

• Fresh jalapenos (or other fiery peppers)

The connection between spicy or sour foods and focus is similar to the phenomenon that happens when you enjoy a hard, slow-to-dissolve candy like a lollipop. A strongly spicy or sour food stimulates receptors inside the mouth, providing a welcome distraction that redirects your focus. The hit of flavor—as well as the burning feeling occurring as you eat—is something new and completely different from what you’re trying to concentrate on, helping occupy the distractible part of your mind while you turn your attention to whatever else is before you.

DRINK A THICK SMOOTHIE OR MILKSHAKE

There’s nothing quite like a thick, cold milkshake: it’s refreshing, sweet, and sometimes difficult to drink. The best milkshakes need a little time to melt before they’re easy to sip. Before your milkshake liquefies, though, turn it into a tasty fidgeting method. Struggle through an incredibly thick milkshake, or try to suck a chunky smoothie through a skinny straw when your dedication to an assignment or piece of work starts to slip.

According to scientists and sensory learning therapists, trying to consume a difficult food or beverage, like a gooey square of caramel, directly impacts your attention span. The trigeminal nerve, which is located in the face, is what helps us feel the sensations of biting, chewing, sucking, and moving our mouths. That important nerve stretches its branches up into the brain stem, where it works to control the sleep-wake cycle, levels of alertness, and focus or concentration. When the trigeminal nerve is stimulated, it helps wake up the brain and send signals of alertness. So, as you try your hardest to suck that smoothie through a straw, your nerves are signaling that it’s time to focus and get some work done!

PART 3

TASTE