We’ve all been there: staring down a creative block or trying to drag ourselves out of a creative rut. Maybe it’s the summertime heat zapping your motivation, maybe you’re just tired, or overworked, or in a funk.
Whatever it is, don’t despair: like everything else in life, there are apps that can help you out. Here are some of our favourite creativity and inspiration boosting apps to get you through a creative rough patch.
1) Unstuck
Facing a creative block that you can’t quite navigate your way around?
Unstuck will help.
Acting like a portable creativity coach, the app asks you a series of questions that prompt you to take a look at your creative process and what’s blocking it and why you’re stuck. Based on your answers, Unstuck will give you tips on how to move forward and get your creative juices flowing again.
⇨ Check out Unstuck
2) IDEO Method Card
The
IDEO Method Card app is a boon for inspiration-seeking designers.
According to the people at IDEO, the app gives you ‘51 ways to help you explore new approaches and develop your own.’ The 51 method cards are based off the same creative prompts that IDEO designers use in their everyday work life. The app is a great tool for new designers looking to develop their creative skills or seasoned designers stuck in a creative rut.
⇨ Check out IDEO Method Cards
3) TED
Is there anything more inspirational than a genius TED talk? There’s nothing like watching smart people talk about their passions to remind you of yours. The
TED app lets you do this easily, straight from your mobile device.
Whether you just want to zone out and be inspired by a talk about poetry or baboons, need some positive psychology wisdom in your life, or want some insight into solving a thorny problem, you’ll probably find a TED talk that speaks to you, and helps walk away with more pep in your creative step.
Plus, for developers and designers, TED offers up a great selection of talks geared towards technology and design.
⇨ Check out the TED app
4) Brainsparker
Brainsparker is a good app option to turn to when your creative reserves are running low.
It fires out random creativity prompts to help users ‘ignite their imagination, overcome creative blocks and brainstorm new ideas.’ The app also lets you schedule a daily prompt (or ‘daily Brainsparker’ as they call it) to work out your creativity muscle each morning or night. It’s stocked with over 200 prompts, so you should find plenty of inspiration here.
⇨ Check out Brainsparker
4) Inkflow Visual Notebook
If nothing gets your creativity going like a good doodling session, the
Inkflow Visual Notebook is an app worth checking out.
It’s an app designed for ‘visual thinkers’, and it essentially functions as virtual pen and paper. It lets you draw and handwrite notes on your screen with virtual ink, add photos and graphics, copy and paste from the real world, and arrange and reorganise your ideas easily.
⇨ Check out Inflow Visual Notebook
5) Inspiration Maps
Running out of inspiration is a major drain on your creativity. But just as frustrating? Getting bogged down in too many good ideas and too much inspiration.
The
Inspiration Maps app can help control the chaos that sometimes comes along with brilliant ideas. It’ll take your brainstormed ideas and organise them by letting you use a template to arrange and organise your random and disorganised thoughts, add images, draw diagrams, and even convert notes into a Word document.
⇨ Check out Inspiration Maps
6) SimpleMind
SimpleMind is another great app for organising your creative chaos and turning it into something productive. It bills itself as a ‘mind mapping tool that turns your computer, tablet or phone into a brainstorming, idea collection and thought structuring device.’
You can use SimpleMind to organise your ideas into an intuitive diagram, add media, take notes, and share your ideas with your team. It’s not necessarily app that’s going to get your tired creative brain firing on all cylinders, but it will help you turn good ideas into a reality.
⇨ Check out SimpleMind
Wrap Up
Creative ruts are a terrible place to be stuck. Luckily, some of these apps should be able to rescue you from creative despair and get your inspiration going again. Let us know in the comments below if we missed any of your favourite creativity boosting apps.
