If You're Bored, Look No Further Than These 20 Time-Wasting Websites

    These visual and auditory distractions might help take your mind off some of the anxiety you're feeling.

    Hannah Marder
    by Hannah Marder

    BuzzFeed Staff

    Feeling anxious? SAME.

    Disney Channel

    I think we're all feeling a little stressed right now — and maybe a little bit helpless — when reading the news every day. When you're ready to give yourself a break from the headlines and need a soothing distraction, here are 20 of the best sites to bookmark!

    1. This is Sand

    thisissand.com

    This is one of my favorite ways to waste time online. You just create sand art and it's intensely visually satisfying.

    2. Silk Weaving

    weavesilk.com

    This is another visually satisfying art site that requires minimal effort on your part. There's also an app for your phone!

    3. Build a Galaxy

    29a.ch

    Last one! This is my personal favorite because IT'S JUST SO COOL!!! For those of you who find looking at the stars calming, this might be for you.

    4. A Soft Murmur

    asoftmurmur.com

    Here, you can create your own white noise/calming sound. This is ideal if you need to focus, but it's also a fun place to play around. If you're just looking for relaxing sounds, Calmsound is a good option.

    5. Tendrils

    experiments.withgoogle.com

    This is a pretty cool interactive music visualization tool. It's super calming to watch!

    6. Play Piano

    multiplayerpiano.com

    Turn your keyboard into a piano and make a song! You can also collaborate with others.

    7. Tone Matrix

    tonematrix.audiotool.com

    You can make your own music with these pleasant sounding bells on this site. It's pretty simple, but the minimalistic design just adds to its calming nature.

    8. Song Maker

    musiclab.chromeexperiments.com

    Another one for those of us that are calmed by music! It's kind of like a simplified GarageBand, and it's super intuitive.

    9. LiveCam

    explore.org

    Here you can watch a ton of different livestreams, mostly of animals! Most notably, there are a lot of puppy litters.

    10. Tetris

    freetetris.org

    I got really into Tetris in college, and would play a few rounds whenever I felt really anxious. Something about concentrating on something that requires your full attention and occupies your hands, but is actually very simple, really calmed me. There's something so soothing and satisfying about shapes fitting into precisely the right place.

    11. Liquid Particles

    spielzeugz.de

    This is just a fun "follow the mouse" visual with pretty mini lights that move with your clicks and mouse movements.

    12. IntoTime

    intotime.com

    If you love color gradients, you'll love this activity, which just breaks a screen into more and more boxes of different color gradients.

    13. Imagination

    codepen.io

    This is another site where you can create slow-moving art just through your mouse alone.

    14. Incredibox

    incredibox.com

    This is a fun little game where you basically create your own A Capella group/song. The graphics are cute and it's just fun.

    15. Akinator

    en.akinator.com

    This is just 20 questions with a computer. But the computer is REALLY smart. It's a fun distraction to try stumping it!

    16. Pop Bubble Wrap

    puffgames.com

    Sometimes you just gotta pop some bubble wrap.

    17. Quick Draw

    quickdraw.withgoogle.com

    This is a super cool site where you just draw basic objects and the computer guesses what they are. It's kind of scary accurate, but also just fun.

    18. SketchPad

    sketch.io

    A lot of times, you just want to doodle. SketchPad works really well, but there are also a ton more, like autodraw, Galactic Ink, and Aggie!

    19. The Useless Web

    theuselessweb.com

    This is a lot like StumbleUpon, but even more random. It brings you to super random, useless websites, but it's a good time waster. Some fun sites I've found are HackerType, where you can make your computer screen look like you're a hacker, YesNoIf, where you can create a bunch of shapes on your screen, and Cat Bounce, which is exactly what it sounds like.

    20. And finally, the Oddly Satisfying subreddit, which provides pictures that make you feel like at least some things are right in the world.

    reddit.com

    Mesmerizing GIFS is another one!

    This time is affecting all of our mental health, and I urge you to be kind to each other and yourself in this trying time. These websites might be silly, but sometimes a little distraction can help!