Motivational tunes: I have a customized Spotify playlist that mainly includes jazz and math rock, but I especially like the music of the Japanese band toe and the Taiwanese indie band No Party For Cao Dong. This indie band broke the boundaries of music, which made its music become even more successful. In a similar way, designers also wish to break the boundaries of visual design, to both bring a nice experience to users and seek their own identification as designers.
Trend source: For websites, it would be siteInspire, as only the best websites will be featured. I also sometimes join seminars to get inspiration from what designers are sharing. Although we sit in front of our monitors looking at different designs, we seldom really listen to how other designers think. So, going to seminars can bring reflection and improvement.
Workday necessity: I always bring my Bose QuietControl 30 noise-canceling earphones when I go to work, as my commute takes a long time.