10 Fun Creative Projects to Do When You’re Bored and Feeling Uninspired

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Trapped in that grey, listless state of “blah”? We’ve all been there. You’re bored, but nothing sounds fun. You want to be creative, but you feel completely uninspired. Your brain feels like a browser with 50 tabs open, and all of them are loading.

This feeling of being “stuck” is paralyzing. The irony is that the cure for “not feeling creative” is to create. The problem is that “Go be creative” is terrible advice. It’s like telling a lost person to “Just find your way.”

The solution isn’t some grand, ambitious project. The solution is low-stakes creation—small, simple, “no-fail” projects that act like a key in a rusty lock. They get things moving again. This guide is your set of 10-keys. You’re not here to build a masterpiece. You’re here to get unstuck.

Key Takeaways: Your 5-Minute Action Plan

For the skimmers (and the truly stuck), here’s the game plan:

• Embrace the 5-Minute Rule: If a creative task takes less than five minutes, just do it. Don’t overthink it. You’ll find that starting is the hardest part.
• Use What You Have: Don’t go to the art store. The friction of “getting supplies” is a known project-killer. Your “art store” is your junk drawer, your bookshelf, and your smartphone.
• Process Over Product: The goal is not to make a “good” piece of art. The goal is to finish a piece of art. The win is in the act of doing, not the quality of the final result.
• Constraints Are Your Friend: A blank page is terrifying. A page with rules (“you can only use three words”) is a fun challenge. We’ll use constraints to jumpstart your brain.
• Habit Stacking: The easiest way to build a creative habit is to “stack” it onto an existing one. We’ll show you how.

Project 1: Create “Blackout Poetry” from an Old Book

Got an old book, a magazine, or even junk mail? You’ve got the raw material for poetry.

This project is the ultimate cure for “blank page syndrome” because you’re not writing a poem—you’re finding one. The simple analogy is that you’re a sculptor, and the existing text is your block of marble. You’re just chipping away the words you don’t need. This is a form of constraint-based creativity (a technique where limits, like a set of words, force you to think in new ways).

To start, you just need a page of text and a marker. Scan the page and look for a word or phrase that jumps out at you. Circle it. Now, scan again for another word or phrase that connects to the first one. Circle that. Repeat this 5-10 times. Once you have your “poem,” use your marker to “black out” everything else on the page, leaving only your chosen words visible.

The artist and author Austin Kleon famously used this technique to create his book Newspaper Blackout. He proves that art isn’t always about creating from scratch; sometimes, it’s about curating, remixing, and reframing what’s already there.

Make It a Habit: Try “Habit Stacking.” If you read a physical book for 10 minutes before bed, stack this habit after it. When you finish your reading, flip back to a page you read yesterday and spend five minutes finding a blackout poem.

Pro-Tip: Don’t just draw black boxes. Your “blackout” can be an illustration. If your poem is about the ocean, you can draw waves that flow around your words, “drowning” the rest of the text.

From finding words, let’s move on to finding… objects.

Project 2: Mastermind a “Found Object” Sculpture

Your junk drawer isn’t a mess; it’s an art supply store. This project teaches you to see your environment not for what it is, but for what it could be.

This is a 3D collage. The goal is to take 5-10 random, uninteresting items from your desk or a single drawer and create a small “sculpture.” Don’t glue anything. Just see how they can stack, balance, and interact. It’s a 10-minute exercise in seeing form, texture, and color. That dead battery? It’s a great pillar. That paperclip? A perfect tiny fence.

You’re tapping into a rich artistic tradition. Artists in the Found Object (or Objet Trouvé) movement, like Marcel Duchamp, became famous for taking an everyday object (like a urinal) and reframing it as art. Your goal is more humble but follows the same principle: You’re forcing your brain to re-categorize the world around you, which is a core creative skill.

Make It a Habit: The “3-Item Challenge.” Once a day, perhaps while waiting for your computer to boot, grab three random items from your desk (e.g., a pen, a coin, an eraser) and find a way to balance them in an interesting way. Take a photo for your “gallery.” Then, put them back.

Pro-Tip: For a surprisingly professional-looking result, limit yourself to one color. Find 10 white things (a cable, a piece of paper, a Q-tip, a mug) and see what you can build. The single color unifies the disparate objects and makes them look intentional.

Now that you’ve explored the physical world, let’s explore the digital one.

Project 3: Become a “Google Maps” Storyteller

You can go on a creative vacation without leaving your chair. This project uses the entire world as your creative prompt.

The high-level idea is simple: You’re going to use Google Maps Street View to “drop” yourself in a random, faraway place and write a 3-sentence story about what you see. Go to Google Maps. Click the “satellite” view. Now, zoom in on a continent you’ve never visited. Pick a city. Pick a street. Drag the little yellow “pegman” onto a blue line and bam—you’re “standing” on a street corner in Kyoto, Japan, or Lima, Peru.

Now, look around. Who lives in that apartment with all the plants on the balcony? Where is that person on the scooter going? What’s the story behind the graffiti on that wall? Write a three-sentence story, in a notebook or a new file, that answers one of those questions. Then, “teleport” somewhere else.

This is a powerful tool for jarring your brain out of its rut. We get uninspired because we’re stuck in our own loops, seeing the same things every day. This digitally-assisted “travel” provides an instant flood of new, unexpected visual information. It’s an engine for curiosity (the fuel for all creativity).

Make It a Habit: Call it the “Waiting in Line” Habit. Next time you’re bored waiting for your coffee or standing in line at the grocery store, pull out your phone. “Drop” a pin somewhere random in the world. Look around. Write one story-sentence in your notes app.

Pro-Tip: Use the “historical” Street View feature. In many places, you can click a small clock icon and see what that exact spot looked like in previous years. Write a story about the change. What happened to the old blue car that was always parked there in 2011?

Project 4: Design a “Personal Logo” in 15 Minutes

You are a brand. You have a personality, a set of values, and a unique style. What does your logo look like?

Don’t panic—you don’t need design skills. You just need a pen and paper, or a free online tool like Canva. The idea is to create a simple monogram (using your initials) or a tiny icon that represents you. Think about it: Are you sharp and angular, or soft and rounded? Are you minimalist and clean, or complex and detailed?

Start by just writing your initials. Now write them 10 more times, but change the style each time. Make one bold. Make one scripty. Make one out of dots. See? You’re designing. If you’re using a tool like Canva, just type your initials and spend 10 minutes scrolling through the fonts. Pick one. You’re done.

The “case study” for this is every world-famous logo. The Nike swoosh was sketched on paper. The Apple logo is just a shape. Simplicity is confidence. This project forces you to make creative decisions and commit to them, which builds creative confidence.

Make It a Habit: After you check your email (a very “left-brain” task), take 60 seconds to do a “right-brain” task. Sketch one new “letter” for a personal monogram. Do this all week. By Friday, you’ll have a whole creative alphabet.

Pro-Tip: Start in black and white. Color is a distraction and complicates things too early. Focus on the shape and form of your logo first. A great logo works even without color.

Project 5: The “3-Page Dump” (A.K.A. Morning Pages)

Sometimes, the most creative act isn’t adding, it’s subtracting. You need to clean out your brain’s attic.

This is the simplest, most intimidating-sounding project on the list. The concept, popularized by author Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way, is called Morning Pages. The instructions are simple: First thing in the morning, before you do anything else, you write three pages of longhand, stream-of-consciousness text.

There are no rules for what you write, only that you do write. You can write “I don’t know what to write” for three pages. You can write your to-do list, your grocery list, your angry thoughts, your weird dreams. You are not allowed to re-read it. You just… dump.

The analogy is simple: It’s like defragging your mental hard drive. You’re clearing out all the junk, the anxieties, and the “mental chatter” that’s blocking the good ideas. It’s a tool for bypassing your internal “censor” or critic.

Make It a Habit: Three pages can be a lot. Start with a “Habit Stack.” Before you have your first sip of coffee (or tea), you must write one paragraph. Just one. The next day, two. Build up to it. The coffee is your reward.

Pro-Tip: It is supposed to feel weird, pointless, and self-indulgent at first. That is the sign it’s working. The “bad” writing is clearing the way for the good ideas. Trust the process.

Project 6: Animate a 5-Second Stop-Motion Film

You can make your coffee mug the star of its own action film, and all you need is your phone.

Stop-motion animation is the art of making an object appear to move on its own by photographing it many times, moving it slightly between each photo. The simple idea is that you’re tricking the human eye. You’re bringing an inanimate object to “life.”

Download a free app (like Stop Motion Studio). Pick your “actor” (a paperclip, a fork, a toy). Place it on a clear surface. Now, follow this loop: 1) Take a photo. 2) Move the object a tiny bit. 3) Take a photo. 4) Move it again. Repeat this 30-50 times. Press play. You’ve just made magic.

This project is a powerful creativity-booster because it’s pure, playful, and has an instant “wow” factor. It teaches you patience and the power of “incremental progress”—how many small, un-impressive steps add up to one very impressive result.

Make It a Habit: “The Toaster Test.” While you’re waiting for your toast to cook (a 2-3 minute timer), try to make a 10-photo stop-motion of the salt shaker “dancing” across the counter.

Pro-Tip: The #1 rule of stop motion: Keep the camera perfectly still. The object moves, the camera doesn’t. If you don’t have a tripod, just tape your phone to a heavy cup or book. A stable camera is the key to a professional-looking result.

Project 7: Conduct a “Household Sound” Symphony

Your kitchen isn’t just a place to cook; it’s an orchestra waiting for a conductor.

This project is about active listening. We’re so used to tuning out the sounds of our environment. Now, you’re going to tune in. All you need is your phone’s voice memo app. Your mission: Record 10 distinct sounds in your house.

Don’t just record “talking” or “TV.” Record textures. The ‘click’ of a light switch. The ‘sizzle’ of a pan. The ‘whirr’ of your computer fan. The ‘zip’ of a zipper. The ‘thud’ of a book closing. Get close-up, just like you would with a camera.

Now, for part two: Get a free audio editor (like Audacity for computers or GarageBand on iOS) and layer these sounds. Pan one sound all the way to the left, one to the right. Make one loud and one quiet. What happens when you layer the “zipper” sound over the “kettle” sound? You’ve just created Musique Concrète (an experimental music genre from the 1940s based on “found sounds”).

Make It a Habit: “The Cooking Composer.” Every time you cook a meal, record one new “instrument” from the process (the ‘chop’, the ‘boil’, the ‘timer beep’). After a week, you’ll have a full “symphony” to edit together.

Pro-Tip: Rhythm is everything. Try to find a “percussion” sound (like your finger tapping on a desk) and a “tonal” sound (like the hum of the refrigerator). Layer the fast, rhythmic sound over the long, tonal sound for instant complexity.

Project 8: The “Zentangle” 10-Minute Meditation

What if you could trick your brain into meditating by doodling? That’s the secret behind this project.

This isn’t your average, mindless doodle. This is a Zentangle, which is a method of creating beautiful, abstract art from simple, repetitive patterns. Think of it as “structured, mindful doodling.” It’s incredibly calming and the perfect anecdote to a scattered, uninspired mind.

Here’s the 5-minute version: 1) Take a small piece of paper (a sticky note is perfect). 2) Use a pen to draw a “string”—just a random, loopy line that divides the sticky note into 4-5 sections. 3) Now, fill each section with a different, simple pattern. One section gets dots. One gets parallel lines. One gets tiny circles. One gets cross-hatching.

That’s it. There’s no “up” or “down.” You can’t “mess it up.” The focus on simple, repetitive strokes is known to put people into a flow state (that magical, “in-the-zone” feeling) very quickly. It’s a cure for anxiety and a fantastic warm-up for “bigger” creative work.

Make It a Habit: “The Conference Call Doodle.” Next time you’re in a boring (and muted) virtual meeting, don’t scroll social media. Practice one new pattern (called a “tangle”) in the corner of your notebook.

Pro-Tip: You don’t need to invent the patterns. The beauty is in the combination. Just Google “Zentangle patterns” or “tangles” for hundreds of simple, step-by-step ideas.

Project 9: Curate a “Tiny Virtual Museum”

If you had your own museum, what would be in the first exhibit? This project turns your scrolling time from passive consumption into active curation.

The high-level idea is to use a free tool—like a Pinterest board, a Canva document, or even a dedicated “Saved” folder on Instagram—to collect 10-15 images that fit a hyper-specific theme. “Pretty pictures” is not a theme. “Cool cars” is a bad theme.

A good theme is: “Examples of Teal and Orange in Movie Posters.” Or “Overly-Ornate 19th Century Door Knobs.” Or “Photos of Brutalist Architecture on a Sunny Day.” The more specific, the better.

This project trains your eye. It forces you to find the signal in the noise. You’re not just ‘looking’; you’re searching. You’re building a “visual library” in your brain that you can pull from for future projects. Many popular moodboard accounts on Instagram are just “tiny virtual museums” run by one person.

Make It a Habit: The “Scroll with Intent” Habit. When you find yourself mindlessly scrolling, give yourself a mission. “I’m only ‘liking’ or ‘saving’ posts that fit my [theme] exhibit.” This turns consumption back into an act of creation.

Pro-Tip: For each image you add to your “museum,” write a one-sentence “museum placard” (a caption) for it. This forces you to articulate why you chose it. “This is a perfect example of…” This small step deepens your connection to the theme and sharpens your critical thinking.

Project 10: The “AI Collaborator” Brainstorm

What if you could brainstorm with a creative partner that has read the entire internet and never gets tired? You can.

The final project is to use a free AI (like Gemini, ChatGPT, or Copilot) as a creative partner, not a content generator. The uninspired way is to say, “Write me a story.” The creative way is to use it as an idea-multiplier.

The art is in prompt crafting (giving the AI specific, constrained instructions). Don’t ask for “ideas.” Ask for connections.

• “Give me 10 story ideas that combine a ‘pirate’ with ‘outer space’ and are set in a ‘dystopian future’.”
• “I’m stuck on a painting. My only colors are red, blue, and black. Give me 10 subjects that would be compelling with this limited palette.”
• “What are 5 creative ways I could use an ’empty toilet paper roll’ for a kids’ craft?”

This is a “no-fail” way to get 10-20 starting points in 30 seconds. You are still the creative director. The AI is just your intern, fetching ideas for you to approve or reject.

Make It a Habit: The “Idea Multiplier.” Once a day, take one boring idea from your to-do list (e.g., “make dinner”). Ask an AI, “What are 5 creative ways to approach [task]?” You might just get an interesting answer (“Make a ‘pantry-only’ challenge meal”).

Pro-Tip: Use the AI to break your block by forcing it to be your ‘yes, and…’ partner (a famous improv-comedy rule). Start with a dumb idea. “My idea is a talking shoe.” Then prompt the AI: “Yes, and… what does the talking shoe want?” “He wants to be reunited with his left-shoe brother.” “Yes, and… who is stopping him?” You’re now co-writing a story.

The Science of “The Stuck”: Why You’re Bored (and Why It’s a Good Thing)

It’s tempting to think, “I’m just not a creative person.” This is the most common and destructive myth about creativity. Let’s debunk it right now.

Creativity is not a trait you’re born with; it’s a muscle you can train.

You’re not uninspired because you’re “broken.” You’re uninspired because of three common roadblocks:

1. Decision Paralysis: You have too many options (Netflix, 1000 hobbies), so you choose none.
2. Fear of Failure: The “product” (the final painting, the finished story) seems so big and scary that you’re afraid to even start.
3. Over-Consumption: You’ve spent hours consuming other people’s creative work (scrolling Instagram, watching movies, binging-reading) and no time producing your own. Your “creator” muscle is atrophied.

Boredom isn’t the enemy. Boredom is your brain’s “check engine” light. It’s a signal that your brain is under-stimulated and asking for a new, interesting problem to solve. These 10 projects are just 10 interesting problems.

From a Single Project to a Creative Habit

These projects are the spark, but a consistent habit is the fire. The goal isn’t to be “inspired” every day. The goal is to be creative every day, especially on the days you don’t feel like it.

• Schedule It: Don’t wait for inspiration. Put “15 Mins Creative Time” in your calendar, just like a meeting. Protect that time.
• Create a “Done” List: Forget your “To-Do” list. At the end of the day, write down the one small creative thing you did. “Wrote a 3-sentence story.” “Made a blackout poem.” “Filled one Zentangle square.” This ‘Done’ list builds momentum.
• Finish What You Start: The confidence you get from finishing a tiny, imperfect project is 100x more valuable than the one you get from starting a huge, perfect one.

Your Turn to Be the Creator

You’ve read the guide. You have the 10 keys. The “blah” feeling is just a locked door.

You don’t need to feel inspired to start. You just need to be curious. Pick one. Just one. The one that sounds the least terrible. Do it for five minutes.

The goal was never to create a masterpiece. The goal was to prove to yourself that you can create. The goal was to get unstuck.

Now, go make something.

Further Reading:

• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
• Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Academic papers on “Boredom and its relationship to creative potential”
• Official documentation for the “Zentangle” method
• Tutorials on “Musique Concrète” for beginners