Looking for websites to go to when bored? Don't let boredom get boring. Even Steve Jobs was a fan of boredom. He believed that boredom allowed room for creativity. We all know how that turned out.
Even science says boredom is good for the brain. So, trust the boffins and take on boredom with these fun websites.
1. 100,000 Stars
Open this interactive visualization in the Chrome browser and cure your boredom with a trip through space. The artistic rendition maps the real location of over 100,000 nearby stars and our solar system.
The Chrome experiment isn't for astronomy buffs alone as it gives everyone an idea of the universe around us.
2. Museum of Endangered Sounds
Want a dose of serious nostalgia? Maybe, the sound of a dial-up modem will do it for you or the dial of a rotary phone. The Museum of Nostalgia will send you back in time. The single-person effort from Brendan Chilcutt aims to preserve the signature sounds of old technologies.
3. A Good Movie to Watch
A good movie is an obvious thing to do online when bored. But the sheer number of options can feel overwhelming. This fun website is a movie recommendation engine with a difference.
It will only filter movies with a viewer score higher than 70% (e.g. 7/10 on IMDb) and a critic score higher than 70% (e.g. on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic). So, you get to see a selection of the very best films that stand above the clutter.
4. NSA Haiku Generator
The National Security Agency isn't one of the places to go when bored. So you wouldn't connect the NSA and poetry even within a few words of each other. But this automatic haiku generator manages to pull it off. So, go ahead and stoke your wildest imagination with weird mashups of wonderful syllables.
The source of the random words is the NSA's database of search terms it uses to red flag terrorist threats.
5. Sketch Something Daily
Creativity is the magic pill to zap boredom. Sketch Something Daily is one of the artistic things to do online when bored. So, pick up a pencil, pen, or even a paintbrush, and test yourself with the daily illustrations on the site.
Try it as a daily habit and stifle the yawns as you interest yourself enough to learn the basics of drawing with the help of other sites on the web.
6. Stumbled
Remember StumbleUpon? The popular site was shuttered, but several StumbleUpon alternatives rose up in its wake. Stumble works on the same principles of random discovery and that makes it a worthwhile website to go on when you are bored.
The links are carefully curated and as of the last count, there are at least 2400+ sites on their radar.
7. 2 Kinds of People
Another humorous Tumblr blog. Another dosage of laughter. The simple illustrations show that there are only two kinds of people in the world. Those that have a sense of humor and the rest who don't.
If you fall into the former, then you will have cured your boredom. If not, read on.
8. The Evolution of Trust
Mistrust is as deadly as minformation. And both have been part of or human experience for a long time. This interactive game uses game theory to simplify the problem of mistrust for us.
Game theory itself is a complex subject, so the visualization uses a "cheating" mode and a "cooperation" mode to reveal the neuroscience of mistrust. If you have time to spare, try this fun link when bored.
9. Gross Science
YouTube alone can give you enough things to do on the internet. So, I am cheating by mentioning the Gross Science channel. But, I couldn't help myself as I got pulled in by all the bizarre but scientific videos here.
So, find out about clothes made of slime. Or, why your pee can change the world. As I said, I couldn't help myself.
10. Innovation Station
While we are on the subject of science and videos, could I also mention Innovation Station? This is a little known but cool website to go to when you're bored. It showcases the latest videos on innovation and futuristic technologies.
It is a wonderful learning platform. As their charter says, "We aim to inspire and educate by putting innovations and innovators in the spotlight."
11. Weird or Confusing
Wonder how unicorn meat tastes. This site will make you wonder about things like that. Press the button and it will beam you into the crazy aisles of eBay and its shopping universe where everything can be sold.
Well, it's not all useless. That inflatable unicorn horn for cats sounds like a better deal than unicorn meat. Just hope it's not a new eBay scam. Sometimes, you will hit a page without any funny eBay product. Just click on that pink Please button again.
12. The Symphony of Blockchain
Visuals can help you understand even the most complex of technologies. Blockchain and cryptocurrency are all the rage now. The Symphony of Blockchain takes you on an interactive, visual and auditory exploration of what it's all about. It's a way to mix online fun with a dose of education.
Try it. It's wonderfully hypnotic as the 3D Bitcoin blocks move and expand against the background of music. Click on each block and it opens to give you more information.
13. The Passive Aggressive Password Machine
Let's not underrate the value of a strong password in keeping the world safe. The PaP Machine is a neat little side project that can bring you out of your boredom fairly quickly with its funny and honest feedback on the strength of your passwords.
14. Arbitrary Awards
Did you know that most awards are paid for? Well, if you didn't then that's what this site tells you. The developers here made their own awards and gave you a platform to gift yourself one with the many choices available.
You deserve an award if you have scrolled so far down the page. And, if we managed to cure your boredom then we deserve one too. Just a nice word in the comments will do for now.
15. Activity Suggestion
A fun website can be a simple website. This is one of those simple one-page websites a developer can put together in a few hours. But the idea is worth a second look when you want to kill your boredom.
Don't know what to do? Just pet the cat and it will suggest an activity you can do when bored. As action comes before motivation, it's time to get going and use your boredom creatively.
There Are Many More Fun Things to Do Online
Instead of trying to zap it away and who knows you just might light up a spark of motivation.
Boredom should be anything but boring. Sounds ironic, doesn't it when you consider that you can pick up something to do with a click of the mouse.