As a recent design bootcamp program graduate, I knew looking for a great design job would be a challenge. I anticipated that after I finished school, I wouldn’t be working my dream role immediately. I’d be happy having a job at a good company with teammates that were decent enough.

What I didn’t anticipate was being 3 months out of school without any job at all. To preserve my ego I will blame COVID entirely. But really, what company would want to take a chance on a brand new designer in a time where taking a chance on anything seems especially risky? In my recent experience, even finding freelance or volunteer design work is a major challenge.

So here I am, a UX/UI Designer with no job but a desperate desire to prove myself and gain experience. I know based on my cohort of fellow bootcamp graduates that I am far from the only one in this position. But if we are struggling to find freelance or volunteer design work and companies aren’t jumping at the chance to hire a brand new designer, what can we do to keep learning and maintaining our skills?

I don’t know about you, but my pre-quarantine brain and mid-quarantine brain differ drastically in motivation. Yes, I want to do more design work. And yes, I have a list of side projects I’d love to start on. But to be honest, I’ve had about enough time alone with my own brain. I want to be inspired by ideas and problems I’ve never considered, from people with completely different perspectives.

Luckily there are a ton of brilliant (and free) design challenges available online, and I have them to credit for pulling me out of the uninspired and directionless slump that is my quarantine brain. Here are 10 of my personal favorites.