fiddling around
Aimless puttering about
Fiddling around is occupying oneself with trivial or aimless activity—touching, adjusting, or tinkering without serious purpose: Stop fiddling around and get to work.
It can suggest wasting time or being unproductive, but also casual experimentation: I was just fiddling around with the settings when I figured it out.
- dabblingShallow, casual involvement
- noodlingCasual musical improvisation
- messing aboutIdle, aimless activity
- putteringUnhurried aimless activity
- tinkeringCasual, unskilled adjusting
knobs · procrastination · goofing off · messing · restlessness · idle hands · tweaking · improvising · boredom · distraction · futzing · curiosity · fidgeting · playfulness · absentmindedness · dawdling · twisting · idling
purposefulness
fiddling aroundgetting down to business
Focusing on the task
buckling down · applying oneself · concentrating · knuckling down
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