Over the past several weeks, I have noticed that when I need to focus most, I start bouncing one of my legs every so slightly. I am sure everyone has felt this, or at least been sitting at a table when one person’s bouncing leg beneath the table shakes the whole thing. I am not typically a fidgety person, but I have noticed that I start this type of fidgeting in certain situations: when it’s late and I need to finish a paper, when I’m reading something that I need to read slowly in order to understand, when I am trying to do something quickly, and when I am getting tired. I think my body almost uses this somewhat involuntary motion as a way to keep me awake and to keep my blood flowing. Upon noticing that my body has this physical reaction, I have recently tried to use this to my advantage, like when I need to focus and get work done efficiently or keep up my energy when I am getting tired. It works. Perhaps it’s all in my head that shaking my leg helps me focus, but isn’t what happens in our head related to our physical body’s function?
