Biz Monday - Freshen Up in 2010

I made it over here with 30 minutes to spare...whew! This Biz Monday post is all  about freshening up your office space for 2010. New Year's resolutions usually include cleaning out your closets and getting rid of the junk that you haven't used for years but sometimes we forget about the spaces we use for work. Whether you have a whole room, half a room, garage or corner in the living room,  it is a perfect time to clean out, re-organize and redecorate (on a shoestring budget of course).
Here are some ways to start:
Clean out and unclutter.
Do you have piles of unfiled paperwork stuffed in every nook and cranny? It's time to get everything out in the open and go through it. Do you have a business that requires you to keep customer records? I put aside one day a week to do all my filing and paperwork clean up. I have a simple folder that I put anything that needs to be filed away during the week and on Friday I bust it out and get to work. Also don't forget to go through desk drawers...with children around they tend to collect all sorts of crazy stuff.

Create a system for your records.
We all know tax time is a headache but make it a little easier on yourself by keeping thing in order all year long. I keep a simple worksheet each month and then record my expenses and income. Then at the end of the year, you just have to add up each month. You don't need an expensive accounting program to do this....just a simple IRS tax form that tells you the breakdown of what categories expenses go in. I designed my worksheet to fit their requirements to make it even that much easier at the end of the year.

Spring for one new office supply.
Ok now I don't mean staples...go for something that will spruce up your space and put some color into your work life. This is probably my favorite tip because I have a freakish love of pretty office supplies. Why write with a plain black Bic pen when you could be using a uber cool Hello Kitty one? You don't have to spring for new furniture (unless of course that is in your budget) but you can get a pretty notebook, cool magazine boxes that double as file holders or funky pens and notepads. There are tons of places out there to find some really cool office supplies. Two of my favorite places are See Jane Work and Sorting with Style. You can also find some great handcrafted supplies on Etsy.

*On a side note, I have no idea where that photo came from but I LOVE that office. So shabby and modern (strange combo I know).