Whether you’re stuck in an airport, trapped in an endless day of shopping, or just sitting around waiting for dinner to be ready, a little diversion can spur creativity.
When you’re self-employed it’s important to make time for fun activities to help keep the creativity flowing and to keep life in perspective. Never fear, however, because your smartphone is ready to rescue you! Instead of wasted time, these little moments here and there can be the perfect opportunity for a mental refresher.
GAMES
Angry Birds (iPhone/Android)
The quintessential mobile game, the seemingly endless rebranding of this title doesn’t change the fact that it’s a solid game with fast, fun levels. You can play one or two levels during your downtime, and it’s easy to stop when it’s time to get going again.
Flight Control (iPhone/Android)
Flight Control is a game that starts out easy and quickly gets hectic. Your job is to guide planes to the proper runways, but after a few levels you’ll find that the sheer number of planes, runways and routes can make that a daunting task.
Jetpack Joyride (iPhone/Android)
A fun take on the “endless runner” genre, Jetpack Joyride lets you pilot your jetpack-stealing main character through a research facility filled with electric traps and laserbeams. Vehicle powerups let you ride a motorcycle, hop into a suit of robot armor and even control a dragon!
Quento (iPhone/Android)
Quento is a fun math game that will keep you thinking while you are being entertained. You can even add a harder difficulty to every puzzle for a greater challenge.
Candy Crush Saga (iPhone/Android)
Disparaging posts on Facebook aside, Candy Crush Saga is a very enjoyable puzzle game, even if it can sometimes be hard to put down. The best part is that your mobile app syncs with Facebook, so your progress on either one will transfer to the other.
ENTERTAINMENT
YouTube (iPhone/Android)
YouTube always has been and always will be a great time waster. If you need a few minutes of entertainment or inspiration, you’re bound to find a video that will fit the bill. If you don’t want to count on luck, subscribe to your favorite channels so you always have something to watch.
Audible (iPhone/Android)
Who has time to read a book? Well, while the answer to the question posed in their commercial is “pretty much everyone,” the fact may be that you don’t WANT to. Audible gives you access to a wide selection of audiobooks that you can listen to while you lay back, close your eyes and relax. This is a perfect addition for road trips as well.
Kindle (iPhone/Android)
Speaking of reading a book, the Kindle app still reigns supreme in the world of e-readers. Grab a few good titles from Amazon and you’ll have endless hours of entertainment in your hands.
Pocket (iPhone/Android)
When you’re enjoying a break between activities, sometimes you find an article or picture that you want to remember later. Pocket is an app that lets you save whatever you’re looking at in a special folder to view later. You can save from your tablet, phone or computer, and can access your saved content on any device as well.
ADVENTURE
Geocaching (iPhone/Android)
If you’ve got more than a little free time, you may want to consider trying some geocaching. Basically, geocaching is a real-world treasure hunt where the maps are actually sets of GPS coordinates. You typically find a box at the locations, and then you take something from the box and leave something of your own for the next person to find.
What are some of your favorite time-filler apps? Share them with us in the comments section!
