We've all been there: sitting out a dull day in an even duller office, waiting for even the slightest distraction to liven things up a bit.

Never fear! Drawing inspiration from Maggie Gyllenhaal's move from dictation to subordination in "Secretary", we've thought of a few more movie-inspired ways to brighten up your working day...

* Start a "Bridget Jones's Diary"-style email flirtation with your boss, providing he looks like Hugh, and not Russell, Grant. Slip into something more revealing and corner him in the lift.

* And one for the boys - if you can't get ahead, get a dress, "Tootsie"-style. OK, so Dustin Hoffman didn't work in an office, but it could be a laugh, and you'll get to find out all the gossip in the ladies'.

* Give your afternoon a kickstart by mixing cocktails in the water cooler, as seen in "The Apartment". Sit back and watch your colleagues get trolleyed, dance on the tables, and kiss people who aren't their spouses.

* Develop a surreal hearing impediment, like wacky receptionist Floris in "Being John Malkovich". Misquote everything people say and then treat them like morons who can't talk properly.

* Spend the day being the Stephen Stucker character ("The tower, the tower, Rapunzel!") from "Airplane!". When your boss hands you a report and says "What can you make out of this?", say: "This? Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl!" Your P45 will be waiting for you at reception.

* Is your boss off sick for a couple of weeks or months? Great! Just pretend to be them for the duration of their absence, seducing their partner into the bargain. Well, it worked for Melanie Griffith in "Working Girl".

* Bored by office life altogether? Take a tip from "Castaway" Amanda Donohue (we said tip!) and bugger off to a deserted island with an overweight, middle-aged man (Oliver Reed now sadly not available). Just watch out for all those reality TV series filming on location.

* Give the office sleaze his (or her) comeuppance with a few tips from Dolly and Co in "9 to 5" - poisoned coffee, kidnap, blackmail - that'll put an end to their wandering hands.

* Take a lesson in sarcasm from "American Beauty" by writing a witty (ie honest) job description for your next appraisal. When you get into trouble, quit your job and then blackmail your boss for a large amount of filthy lucre. Sorted!

"Secretary" opens in UK cinemas on Friday 16th May 2003.