Do you feel pressured by all the things that you need to do? When you check your e-mail and see that message 11 of 63 is downloading, do you bang your hands on your desk and shout, "Stop, stop, stop - I can't handle this!"? Do you feel like you will scream if your boss tells you, "Here are some things to read - you might want to incorporate them into your work!"?

Well, here is another thing to read - and incorporate into your life.

Scream all you want. But don't scream at me. Because these are five fun filled games that even the most time-stressed of us can play. And in the playing, learn how to be creative.

There are two simple rules to understand when playing these games. The key to unleashing your creative power through these games is also the key to unleashing your creative power at work. First, tell yourself that you are creative. Don't indulge in any negative self-talk. Second, be silly. And don't worry about getting it right or making mistakes. Just have fun!

Now, get ready to have some fun brushing those cobwebs out of the creative corners of your brain.

Play the 3 Cs: Clothes, Colour and Counting Game
As you are getting dressed, look at what you are putting on. What colour is it? As quickly as possible, list as many alternative different names as possible for that colour. Keep on thinking up new names until you've finished dressing. (It may help to pretend that you work for a paint company and it is your job to come up with new names for certain colours.)

For instance, as you search through your wardrobe for an appropriate suit to wear for a presentation, your glance stops on your brown wool suit. You decide that particular suit portrays a professional yet imaginative image and would be perfect for your presentation. As you put it on, you think of these names for that particular warm brown colour: rust, young oak, toast, burnt sienna, burnt earth, squirrel, evening orange, coffee au lait, sun-kissed mahogany, and rolling-in-the-mud Old Yeller.

Play Connect-the-Cars Traffic Jam Car Game
Traffic jams - they are the bane of our existence. We sit frustrated at wasting our time doing nothing. As such, they are an ideal creativity game opportunity.

As you are caught in that traffic jam, look at the car in front of you. Choose something that catches your eye, such as a bumper sticker or the colour of the car. Talking out loud, list off ten thoughts that come to mind as a result of that part of the car (keep count on your fingers). Then think about a problem you have at work or home. As quickly as possible, list off as many ways as possible that what you've noticed about the car part is similar to your problem. Then think about whether or not any of these links might help you solve your problem. If they don't help, pick another part and play the game again.

For example, the work problem might be that the last advertising you designed for the company didn't seem to get the job done. The car part that stands out could be a rust patch that looks like Homer Simpson's head. The ten thoughts might be:

• falling apart,
• Homer Simpson's head,
• nothing in it (Homer's head),
• death and decay,
• crumpling metal,
• fragile,
• eyesore,
• dirty,
• nice colour (when the sunlight catches it),
• the same colour as a Monarch Butterfly's wing.

Some links to your problem:

• I am worried that this will be an eyesore on my record with the company.
• I am concerned that I will be stained by this failure.
• The ad campaign had nothing in it - just like Homer's head.
• The ad campaign didn't have colour.
• The ad campaign didn't attract the eye the way a butterfly's wing does.
• The ad campaign didn't give people that sense of awe that a butterfly gives people.

Some ideas coming from the thoughts above: A butterfly is small - that smallness creates a sense of awe. Instead of being an elephant, be a butterfly - or a hummingbird. Use colours and shapes that remind people of a swallowtail or monarch butterfly. Create ads that give people that awe and warm and fuzzy feeling that a butterfly gives them. Make people want to reach out and "catch" your ad. Make an origami brochure in the shape of a butterfly. Make a connection to reaching out and catching a butterfly with reaching out and catching your product.

Play the Elevator Awareness Game
Ho, hum, here I am stuck in this slow elevator again. Yuck, what's that smell? Someone sure splashed on too much scent this morning!

As you stand there swallowed by the crowd, instead of thinking about how long it is taking to get to your floor, develop your creativity! Look at the person next to you and as quickly as possible, think of all the different occupations that look like they might match the person.

For instance, the lady standing next to you is tall, of a healthy weight, has straight iron-gray hair with a lighter streak over one ear, and has a rather stern face. She's wearing a white shirt buttoned up to her neck and a navy blue A-line skirt. She has no jewellery on except for a plain gold wedding ring. You quickly think of all the things she could be - pastor's wife, missionary, school teacher, sales clerk in a bookstore, cookbook author, legal secretary, accountant, engineer, dog trainer, flying instructor, coroner, expert witness, undercover cop, opera singer, mad scientist....

Play the Round-the-Table-Across-the-Country Meal-Time Game
Playing solitary games are just that – solitary. The most creative people playfully bounce their ideas off of other people. One person who did this was Albert Einstein. He felt that his wife had as much to do with developing an important theory as he did. So take a lesson from this creative great and bounce ideas off of someone close to you. Get your family involved in expanding everyone's creative capacity!

As the family sits down for dinner, start a progressive story about a wacky family living on the other side of the country who just happen to be sitting down to the same meal as your family is. Each family member says a few sentences, trying to be as imaginative and silly as possible. The person to their right has to continue the story. See how many strange twists you can add to the story. And try to be as descriptive as possible. It helps to imagine the scene in your mind and then describe what you see.

Your wacky story might go something like this:

Mom: Right now a family called the Piggers is sitting down to dinner in La Crosse, Wisconsin. People, looking at them, may think that they are just an ordinary family - but they aren't.

Dad: That's right. They aren't an ordinary family. They are actually enchanted pigs. That's why their last name is Piggers.

Son: The only way you would guess that they were enchanted pigs is if you happened to sit down to dinner with them. They might be having turkey, broccoli, mashed potatoes, and salad for dinner but it would be all cooked up in the same pot and served up in a trough.

Daughter: But that isn't what they were having for dinner tonight. Tonight they were celebrating that in only two more days, they would finally be turned back to pigs. No more living as people. And that's why they were having this for dinner...

Play the Movie Mania Game
Every so often, even the most time-challenged of us has to sit down and watch some television. Let your body relax but exercise your creativity by playing the Movie Mania game. Study the main character. And then write down 20 ways why s/he reminds you of yourself. Then write down 20 ways that s/he isn't like you. Looking at your list, pick one and during a commercial, try and figure out a link between that trait and the product being advertised. Pick a different attribute for each commercial.

Some of the items on your list might be similar to these:

• Needs to go on a diet
• Is humorous
• Is a college graduate
• Drives a red car

The commercial might be the one where the monkeys in the zoo steal the fellow's Visa card when he drops his wallet in their enclosure.

A link between this commercial and driving a red car? Red often represents the emotion of anger - and boy is that fellow going to be angry when he figures out he has been monkeyed by a monkey.