These five fidget toys will help calm your anxiety while looking like decorative desk accessories

If you tend to click a pen, tap your foot, or play with whatever object is at hand, gift yourself a fidget toy. This fidgety habit is a work style. You have to give your hands something to do so your brain can focus. According to Scientific American knowing what your work style needs — and yours might require a fidget toy — is fundamental to productivity.

I have been a working freelance writer for over 20 years. Knowing how to stay productive, when there is no one else to keep me accountable, is as important to my work as knowing how to use a verb or keeping up with acronyms. Fidget toys are not what I need. They gather dust on my desk. I need a room with a door, lots of quiet — or a very specific kind of music — and carefully curated distractions to feed my procrastination urge. But I’ve worked with people who fidget and the noise of a clicking pen or tapping foot can be maddening. Fidget toys are, usually, quiet. Every fidgeter should have a few.

If you know someone who fidgets, or you are a fidgeter, here are five fidget toys that would make a great gift to boost productivity.

The Infinity Cube Fidget Toy

This Cube ($9) toy is solid, satisfying to manipulate, doesn’t make a lot of noise, and you can work it one-handed. These are all terrific qualities in a fidget. The $9 price tag makes it easy to acquire. And it will look like an object du art on your desk so it won’t be the clutter magnet that creates a mess. Just keep it somewhere handy so you can calm your jitters when you need to focus.

Speks Blots

These Speks Blots ($25), though, are my kind of fidget toy. I type so much that my hands cramp and hurt and this is exactly the sort of squishy, anti-stress ball that helps with that — while building hand strength to prevent future damage to my hands. I love the color and the look of it, too. So I won’t mind having it on my desk — or in the bowl of stress balls that I already have on my desk.

SHASHIBO Shape-Shifting Box

Okay, fidgeters, this one is for you. This SHASHIBO Shape-Shifting Box ($25)  is the sort of puzzle that would distract me but I know would free the mind of some fidgeters I know to do their best work. You will open, shift, rebuild, and work this thing in your hands until your brain is calm and getting some work done. If you doubt me, check out some of those 27,000 or so five-star reviews.

Appash Fidget Cube

Push the buttons, flip the switches, spin the spinny bits, and fidget away. This Fidget Cube ($9) is so much better than that pen you have been clicking. It’s also unlikely to be stolen by someone who needs to write a note. The price makes it worth a shot even if you aren’t sure if a fidget toy will help you. And it comes in lots of colors.

DYRDM Magnetic Fidget Sphere

This Magnetic Fidget Sphere ($20) is so cool that I am tempted to change work styles so I can play with this all day. Shape and reshape the magnetic pieces while your brain does real work. There are lots of colors and endless combinations.