# Busy Hands Doper: Do You Have a Favorite Object? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 19, 2013, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806 "2013-02-19T16:27:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/21 "2013-02-20T04:46:39Z")
Usually it’s something to write with. Pen, pencil, highlighter. No clicking, just flicking them back and forth, forever. But if I wear a long enough necklace, I’ll play with that instead or too. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/22 "2013-02-20T05:59:19Z")
Highlighter, pen or bulldog clip. I slowly destroy everything on my desk. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/23 "2013-02-20T06:20:01Z")
Did you know you can take out the wire parts of a binder clip? I’m sure you did. But did you know if you put the legs of one wire in the head of the other, then press down on it correctly on a desk, the “head” wire flies out? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/24 "2013-02-20T18:16:01Z")
> [@jools](#): > > Basically anything that lands in my hands I play with! What’s that I hear? The sound of 60,000 tongues being bitten simultaneously? Too easy. too easy, leave it alone… AARRGGHH! How YOU doin? I coudn’t resist. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/25 "2013-02-20T18:26:57Z")
I have several stress ball giveaways on my desk, but I don’t use them. The foam doesn’t last if you use it. Mine are just decoration. Instead I have a paperweight. We have unique ones here. They are all handmade. Take two pieces of very thick, supple leather and cut into circles about six inches in diameter. Sew along the edge. Fill with birdshot, then complete the sewing. Each weighs about two-three pounds. Great exercise for hands, wrist and arms. I use one to relieve stress by squeezing it and banging on the desk. If I were to slap you upside the head with it, it would [del]probably[/del] definitely crack your skull. Why do we have them? We have plotters so many of our documents are quite large, as in three feet by five feet, and larger. Just walking by a pile of these generate just enough of a breeze to make them hover off of the tables. The paperweights prevent that from occurring. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/26 "2013-02-20T18:30:40Z")
I never could wear non-metal watch bands because I would fidget them to death. I’ve mostly mastered my fidgeting now though. I still fidget with my Tivo remote control though; press play when the program is already playing, slide the keyboard open and shut. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/27 "2013-02-20T18:44:15Z")
Rubber finger page turner thingies. I stick one on in the morning pretty much as soon as I sit down at my desk and it stays on most of the day and I fiddle with it constantly. Under my desk is a rubber finger page turner graveyard because they eventually get away from me and invariably roll away under my desk. ---
**Author:** ![jools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jools)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/28 "2013-02-20T20:06:40Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > What’s that I hear? The sound of 60,000 tongues being bitten simultaneously? Too easy. too easy, leave it alone… > > AARRGGHH! > > How YOU doin? > > I coudn’t resist. ☹ :o yeah I know, the door was opened way too wide, I thought about it afterwards… hoping as usual my post would go unnoticed! ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/29 "2013-02-21T00:09:03Z")
Gah! Everything already listed and more. In meetings at work I play with my badge, in the car I click the button on the gear shift constantly, at home watching television it’s usually a beagle’s ear. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/30 "2013-02-21T00:20:33Z")
Since nobody has gone the TMI route I geuss I will: I’m constantly picking at the hair or stubble growing out of my damn ears! No matter how hard I try, I always miss at least one when I trim them. This promts me to fecklessly pluck the offending hair out. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2013, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/31 "2013-02-21T04:06:54Z")
I do much the same as the OP. Tear labels off of bottles. Tear paper up, rip patterns into notes, click pens, mess with mechanical pencils. It’s bad! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/32 "2017-01-21T13:43:44Z")
It’s alliiiive! I thought about this thread while playing with a holiday gifts. If you’re a fidgety person like me, check out [these things.](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/antsylabs/fidget-cube-a-vinyl-desk-toy) Now, what I have is a Chinese knockoff (which I will not link to) because these aren’t yet available to non-bakers, but holy shit. This cube is an extraordinarily satisfying toy. ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/33 "2017-01-21T14:08:38Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > It’s alliiiive! > > I thought about this thread while playing with a holiday gifts. If you’re a fidgety person like me, check out [these things.](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/antsylabs/fidget-cube-a-vinyl-desk-toy) > > Now, what I have is a Chinese knockoff (which I will not link to) because these aren’t yet available to non-bakers, but holy shit. This cube is an extraordinarily satisfying toy. Plus one. My wife gave me a fidget cube for Christmas and I love it. I often use it in my office when no one is there. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/34 "2017-01-21T14:25:39Z")
I have a [Tangle](http://www.tanglecreations.com/collections/tangle-therapy/products/tangle-therapy) at my desk, and I love it. I just noticed that they have a “hairy” one, so I’m off to buy that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/35 "2017-01-21T16:06:25Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > What a penis is for. This. Either my own or my husband’s or both. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/36 "2017-01-21T18:05:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > This. Either my own or my husband’s or both. That must get awkward at work. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/37 "2017-01-21T20:46:55Z")
I tear up styro cups into tiny pieces, fold paper or do math puzzles I can make up. What ever I can get my hands on seems to work. This morning while working the coffee bar I was seeing how straight I coud get paper clips. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/38 "2017-01-22T00:23:35Z")
It’s a bit situational, but I have a [chromed brass thumb rest](https://reverb.com/item/2789927-schaller-bass-thumbrest-for-modern-vintage-fender-jazz-p-bass-hs221-15160200-chrome) on each of my bass guitars that I really like to stroke between songs while not actually playing the instrument. Thumb rests on basses are a throwback to the 60s and 70s, and the cool kids don’t use them anymore, preferring to rest their thumb on a pickup or on one of the strings. But I love them. It gives me something to … caress… Smooth and cool. Like a Native American worry stone. I imagine that in a year or two I’ll wear through the chrome plating and the brass will show through. There are many places to attach one, but my preference is as shown [on this guitar.](http://www.classicacafe.com/Content/and_39_80_Fender_Precision_Bass_Special.asp) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/39 "2017-01-22T01:58:48Z")
I’m not a fiidgeter but I used to have a large stainless steel, screw and bolt. It was kinda heavy and big, but it was awesomely tooled. I carried in around for several weeks during an attempt to quit smoking. People did find it a little odd, but also insisted on holding it, trying it, grooving on it. I wonder where that thing went? I often carry stones around in my pockets, smooth, sometimes shiny, always a pleasant weight, size, shape. (I also sometimes come home with a rock, when I walk my dog.) Lately it’s been a rose quartz polished heart, about the size of a very large grape, but heavier, of course. It’s always in my pocket theses days! I had a moonstone one for ages, but I misplaced it eventually. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2017, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806/40 "2017-01-22T02:21:04Z")
I have a couple different sizes of Eggsercizer like objects that work well for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/busy-hands-doper-do-you-have-a-favorite-object/650806.md?page=1)