Picture this story. It’s Saturday morning. Your plan was to get up early and clean up your office and deal with all the left over stuff from the week.

Those piles of business cards you collected from networking events, miscellaneous papers that need filing, etc.  I suppose if you are an anal organizing type this won’t be your picture, but  I think most of you can relate.

You can imagine that good feeling of having everything wrapped up, tidied and completed before the new week begins. And then a wrench gets thrown in.

You wake up and just don’t feel inspired. You end up on your computer checking Facebook updates, reading Tweets, checking Craigslist for that perfect condo at the beach and your mess is still there. You look out the window and see a small square of sun and you think, “ok, as soon as I get everything done I’ll go out.” It reminds me a bit of being a kid and wanting to go out and play and mom saying, “after you clean your room.”  You try to convince her that you’ll clean it later after playing but she’s not convinced.

Ah, but you are the grown-up now and this means you can make your own rules. If you want to eat apple pie for dinner you can. So here are a few tips for breaking out of the Saturday morning slump.

1. First recognize that it is Saturday and if you’ve worked hard all week so give yourself a break.

2. Go out and do something fun first. When you come back you will feel much more energized.

3. Make a list of everything that you want to accomplish before Monday. Don’t make it too big as this is the weekend remember!

4. Visualize your office tidied up and all the little jobs done. Breath in that feeling and smile.

5. Have a nice cup of your favorite hot drink and write down everything you are grateful for. Feeling grateful will help you to change your attitude faster than anything.

I am always amazed at the power of visioning. Even though I’ve been doing this “ritual” every January for many years, I am still so in awe when I view my own finished vision board and compare it to the one from last year. Not only does it clearly shine out as a beacon of light  to where I am focusing my intentions, goals and energies for this year forward, but it is such a huge visual acknowledgment of where I am now, compared to January 2008.

I especially can see the change in my business (lower center) and it is a big awareness to see that all the business development work, marketing and organization I did last year, has paid off.

For my business, I realized that 2009, the inner or yin part is all about re-energizing my office, making space, changing the physical work space and allowing for business expansion and growth.

After completing my board, I stayed up until midnight remodeling my office, moving desks, wires, cleaning and creating a whole new energy of openness. That was all catalyzed by putting “new office” pictures on my board. It wasn’t until I began to build the board that I realized I even needed office pictures.

This is often how the process works.The experience of doing the board helps you to align what needs to happen.

On the yang side of my business, (upper center) it is all about productivity ( my word for the year) and circulation. The world is calling for my books and products to be more available as they are developed to help people to overcome obstacles in their own business. My first e-book will be in print this year.( watch this space).

With my past vision boards, I have always crammed the space full of pictures and words. This time there are open spaces. It might stay that way to allow for expansion or maybe something else needs to be added later. This is another difference and change that intrigues me.

Although my main focus is growing my business and helping other small business owners to grow theirs, using the Ba-gua as a guide for my board has helped me to see that all my life areas work together to bring balance and harmony in my life. My business is here to support my life, not the other way around.

If you have never done a vision board here is an easy step-by-step process.

1. Gather materials: lots of magazines, old calendars, greeting cards, photos,foam board, glue stick, scissors. Do it with a friend or two if you can.

2. Following your own process, get centered and make an intention, say your word for the year or just meditate for a few moments. You can pick a tarot card, sing, listen to music. Whatever works for you.

3. Begin to go through your magazines and cut out any pictures or words that jump out at you. Make a big pile. You won’t necessarily use them all but you won’t know until you get started. I think it works better to not try to control the process but allow the pictures and words to choose themselves.

4. Begin to arrange the pictures and words on your board. When it feels right, glue them down. Look for more pictures or words as needed. There is no right way to do this, only your way.

5. Share your completed board with your friend, mentor or mastermind buddies.

6. Hang it on the wall of your office where you will see it all year.

I used the Ba-gua as a guide for my vision board this year. I loved this process as it feels complete and harmonious, as each area of my life is represented with the appropriate colors and location.

Have you done your board? Take a picture of it and include it hear with your comments. I’d love to see it.