Why I Chose To Run My Business With Google

Why I Chose To Run My Business With Google

I realized something recently. Although I’ve run a full-time creative business for over three years now, I still feel like it’s a temporary thing. Even now, I feel like someone is going to pop in and tell me, “Okay, Carrie, it’s time to quit playing around and get to work.”

It’s such a funny thing to make a career out of your hobby. More often than not, it just doesn’t feel real, and I realized that I’m unconsciously biding my time until it’s all over…but the truth is that this crazy thing I’ve built is both sustaining and fulfilling.

I’m the first to admit that I just learn as I go, and that my systems aren’t entirely sophisticated, but I’ve managed to put together a process that works for me. My secret? Google! For those of you who are business owners yourselves looking to add a bit of organization to your digital filing and record keeping, I thought I’d share just a few of the reasons why I use Google to run my company.

Why I Chose To Run My Business With Google

I knew from the get-go, since my very first invoice, that I would need some kind of spreadsheet to track projects and payments. Truth be told, I purchased QuickBooks right at the start, but after popping the disk into my computer and getting set up, it just seemed too overwhelming for what I needed at the time. I never opened the program again.

Instead, I decided to experiment with Sheets in the Google Drive that had been automatically set up through my Gmail email. Several years later, I’m still using the exact same system, and haven’t looked back.

In the document, I can track things like my invoices organized by year, my expenses, project tracking for specific companies that I work for on an hourly basis, and I’ve even created a tab for tracking our personal monthly bills (think: utilities, gas, electric, etc.).

Why I Chose To Run My Business With Google

For example, on my invoicing tab, I can fill in the rows under columns with headings that call out invoice number, company name, project, date the invoice was sent, the total amount to be paid, and the paid date. I leave unpaid rows blue and mark them as gray once paid. I’ve included a screenshot of what my spreadsheet looks like (with rates redacted for privacy) so that you can get a sense of how my system works.

Using Google Sheets to manage all of my finances has been invaluable. It’s not fancy or automated, but I can go in and input all the data I need to keep track of ingoing and outgoing money, then print and run the reports to hand over to my accountant come tax time. It’s so simple, and, more importantly, FREE.

Why I Chose To Run My Business With Google

Another Google system that I use every single day is Google Calendar. I use this as my editorial calendar to keep track of upcoming blog post topics, as well as a way to track things like draft deadlines and live dates for posts I’ve written for other websites (like Oriental Trading).

I can categorize things as needed in different colors so that I can easily get the lay of the land in terms of where big deadlines lie, plus I can add in notes under each item as needed—all I have to do to see the extra information is double click on the item. Here’s a big peek at everything coming up in June so you can see exactly what I see.

Why I Chose To Run My Business With Google

I know there are more sophisticated systems and apps out there that do all of this work and more for creative entrepreneurs, and sometimes I wonder if I’m missing out by not taking advantage of them, but I’m of the mind that, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” My Google systems don’t cost me a dime, and they’ve worked for me, my one employee, and my accountant for more than three years, so I think I’ll remain loyal to Google until I outgrow it (if I outgrow it).

Are you a creative entrepreneur or blogger? What systems do you use to keep track of things in your business? And in case you’re interested to hear about the other apps and websites I use for daily work tasks, click back here for a breakdown.

Why I Chose To Run My Business With Google

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Motivation To Paint Your Brick Sunroom White

Motivation To Paint Your Brick Sunroom White
Sources: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 67 (unknown)

If you’re anything like me, then the moment you move into a new space you’re already dreaming of the things you’d like to do to it. Maybe you have visions of knocking down a wall, or changing out the powder room light fixture, but your new home almost instantly becomes a playground for your imagination.

That said, if your friends and family are anything like mine, too, then chances are good that they will gently remind you to live with a new-to-you space until you’ve had a chance to experience it day in and day out. They’ve probably told you post-move that it’s important to give your plans time to marinate and to carefully consider any big changes. They’ll tell you, “Oh, but you might find out that you love that separating wall!”

I’m certain that my family’s encouragement toward patience and their pleas to wait when it comes to home projects have saved me from more than a few mishaps. But then again, sometimes it turns out that a loving but quick, “Told ya so!” is in order. Case in point, our brick sunroom.

A Mid-Century Sunroom Makeover: Inspiration | Dream Green DIY (Photo: Andrea Pesce)

We are about to celebrate our second anniversary here at the house, and I can all but guarantee that each of those 602 days has ended with at least some mention of just how nice our brick sunroom would look painted white. Slight exaggeration aside, John is very used to me asking for his trust and to let me paint the room.

My argument was that the space would look so much brighter in a shade of white, and that the brick and slate room would feel so much more like an actual room with a couple coats of paint—something to differentiate it from the brick exterior of our home.

His argument was that he loved the look of exposed brick. Of course, I saw where he was coming from, and I also didn’t want to steamroll him, but after more than a year of me (gently) combatting his singular argument with assurances that white brick was both fresh and fun, my persistence eventually won out.

A Mid-Century Sunroom Makeover: Inspiration | Dream Green DIY (Photo: Andrea Pesce)

I think throwing together the roundup of inspiration images you saw at the beginning of this post also helped my cause though. About a week or so ago, I decided to finally go for gold and scoured Pinterest for pictures that would prove that a bright white sunroom was the way to go.

Even though the pretty photos (shot by Andrea Pesce) that you see pictured above and below look really nice, the reality is that our brick sunroom is actually kind of dark and draining in person. It’s such a great bonus room in our home, but the combination of those hard textures felt cold and utilitarian—it looked more like an afterthought addition than the nice lounge area it really is.

A Mid-Century Sunroom Makeover: Inspiration | Dream Green DIY (Photo: Andrea Pesce)

Photos by Andrea Pesce

Well, although I didn’t anticipate being able to say so this soon, I can officially tell you that the sunroom is cold no more. You may have seen on Instagram Stories, but with John’s incredible help, we managed to paint the sunroom white over the course of the long Memorial Day weekend. It was an exhausting handful of hours, but we knocked it out, and I’m happy to report that we’re both smitten with the results.

I’m still working on finishing up the space (think: art, plants, etc.), so you’ll have to wait just a little longer for the final look, but hopefully these dreamy inspiration images help appease you for the time being. So what do you think? Would you vote for painted brick, or do you prefer leaving it exposed? For me, it all depends on the space, but I’m curious to hear your opinions, so please feel free to leave them below.

Motivation To Paint Your Brick Sunroom White

Photo by @lesleemitchell for @pencilandpaperco
P.S. Have you voted for our space in this year’s Design Dash hosted by La-Z-Boy yet?! See the room I made over with my Glitter Guide teammate, Caitlin Kruse, here. Each vote enters you for a chance to win $15,000 to put towards a room of your OWN, so don’t wait!
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