Technology stresses people out. Sitting in an uncomfortable desk chair in a windowless cubicle for hours can cause back tension, headaches, and overall nuttiness. Everyone needs a break.
Brief moments of personal time throughout the workday vastly improve productivity and concentration, according to Science Daily. So you don't even need to feel guilty about spending a few minutes on each of the websites below.
1.) Calm.com plays ambient tunes and shows pretty pictures. Simple. You choose the background and music by using the navigation bar in the lower right hand corner.
The site also offers guided meditation — if you enjoy a British woman whispering about your posture and breathing.
2.) The Thoughts Room essentially provides an online diary, one sentence at a time, that explodes into stardust. Anything you put online stays there for a terrifyingly long time. But whatever stressful, evil, self-deprecating, etc. words you type into the "thoughts box" (shown below) just melt away, while listening to ambient music. Putting your feelings into words really does help.
3.) Babyanimalcams.com doesn't require a lot of explanation. Choose from live video feeds of kittens, birds, puppies, and even sea otters, posted by zoos, animal shelters, and regular people. Look at that little guy chewing on his friend!
4.) Weavesilk.com requires some user interaction, but the result will blow your mind. Anywhere you click on the screen a hybrid lightning-smoke design will appear. Options in the top right hand corner allow you to change the color and level of symmetry. You'll feel like an artistic scientist while also giving your mind a break. There's more ambient music, too.
5.) On sharkbreak.com, your choice of sea creature — like a puffer fish, shark, or whale — follows your mouse around the screen. Traffic to the site also helps raise funds for marine life conservation and ocean preservation. (Spoiler alert: the puffer fish puffs at random times!)
