I discovered recently that Lego – the Danish-based company that produces billions of those happy little multicolored plastic bricks – is celebrating its 50th birthday. Reading about this toy milestone immediately put a smile on my face because, as a child, those sweet little Legos pushed my imagination into overdrive and made me happy the second I opened the container and poured them all out.

This instant rush of joy got me thinking. Why don’t we – adults in a creative field – take a cue from the kiddos and allow ourselves the pleasure of playing” With constant deadlines, ridiculously long lead times, budget overruns, value engineering, and demanding clients, ours can be pretty stressful industry. We often complain that the process of it all bogs us down, drying up our creative juices (which is why we got into the design biz in the first place).

So why not take a break once in a while to relax our minds with some creative play” In the break room at lunch with co-workers or at home alone on the living room floor, drag out whatever makes you happy: Lincoln Logs, Crayons, Tinker Toys, Playdoh, Silly Putty, Etch-a-Sketch, Lite-Brite, etc. – and have fun. Relish the absence of pressure, supervision, deadlines, regulatory agencies, and city inspectors. In other words: No stress, just bliss.