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We all face stresses, and they can get in the way of both important commitments and creative work. Fortunately, there is a myriad of imaginative apps and gadgets for people who need more creativity and less stress in their lives each day.
Things to Fidget With
Playing with a puzzle or stress ball can help relax and clear your mind to help with creative thinking. It helps let out restless energy so you can return to focusing on the task at hand. When you don’t want to pop bubbles on your smartphone with Antistress Bubble Wrap for Android (with alternatives available on iOS devices) you can play with the multi-sided puzzle Fidget Cube or punch a desktop punching bag.
Doodling in Three Dimensions
The iPad app Gravity Sketch allows you to doodle sketches with your fingers and 3D-print a model by sending it to a 3D printer or printing on an online platform. Don’t forget about your 3D printer filament that you can get here. Need some inspiration first? The Structure Sensor wearable technology enables you to 3D-scan objects, rooms, and faces, which you can then upload and edit! If you want to skip the printing stage, you can directly draw 3D shapes with 3Doodler Create. An Android coloring book app by Apalon Apps lets you work with color to get your creative juices flowing, and Assembly allows you to design and edit your own icons and graphics. If you want to get really serious, top-level image editing software like Photoshop or Adobe Spark for iOS devices (which allows you to create and share content online) is also available.
Apps and Gadgets for Chilling Out
Sometimes you need to relax for purely emotional reasons, other times to clear the mental space for inspiration. Try the calming sounds of Coffity, which recreates the atmosphere of a coffee shop, or find an app or soundtrack to better suit your needs. Worst case, there’s doubtless the right atmosphere soundtrack on YouTube. Breathing exercise apps like Breath2Relax guide your breathing to lower your stress with audio and visual instructions.
For more serious calming and psychological wellbeing there’s meditation, hypnosis, massage and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy apps. Headspace provides free basic guided meditation, Anxiety Free Hypnosis provides guided hypnosis and tools to focus and calm your mind, and Massage Techniques Videos, well, does what it says on the tin.
Finally, Pacifica offers simple Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, i.e. challenging and correcting negative thought patterns to help you deal with problems more calmly and rationally. Another CBT-style app designed specifically for Anxiety is Stop Panic & Anxiety Self Help, which also gives you tools to help you cope with and avoid panic attacks. Several wearable technologies are also designed to help your mood. Muse sits on your head to measure your stress, Wellbe does the same on your wrist but by monitoring your heart rate, and Spire does so by monitoring your breathing.
Hopefully, the next time you feel the urge to plunge into a procrastination spiral or just give up you’ll have a funky gadget or app to fiddle with for a bit to lift your spirits.
About the Author
Amelie Hale is a creative gal who enjoys sketching and painting, knitting, a variety of other crafts as well as baking. She uses her creativity to help her unwind after a stressful day at work.