Using Google Sheets

Why using Google Sheets has changed my business!

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Who uses spreadsheets?

As a Virtual Assistant I use Spreadsheets a lot. I use them to keep track of my hours, do my invoices, plan social media posts, log my income and expenditure, log research for clients and so on… the list is endless, and I’m sure you can add to it.

“What’s wrong with Excel?” – I hear you ask

While I have nothing against Microsoft Excel spreadsheets (I used them a lot when I started out), I run a Mac for my work, and it’s not usually the default software on there. This means sometimes it doesn’t always transfer compatibly between my clients and me, or it doesn’t format correctly. 

Then it’s a case of sending it in an email, and often losing where that email is, especially if a week has passed by. Then if one of us edits it, we have to send it back and make sure we overwrite the original with the new version… I was ending up with so many different versions of the same document, it was very confusing. Plus it’s easy to make mistakes or lose data if you overwrite the wrong one.

Introducing Google Sheets...

Google Sheets is all online. It goes without saying these days that we all generally have a Google login of some kind. Whether it be a Gmail account, a YouTube account or even if you don’t then it’s pretty simple to set one up. 

How do I go about using Google Sheets?

You log into Google, click on Google Sheets in the top right hand menu, and everything that you have ever done using Google Sheets is just listed there (or will be once you get started).

It autosaves every few seconds too so you never risk losing your work. 

But what if I already have loads of documents set up in Excel? How do I integrate them across to Google Sheets?

Easy! Go into a new blank document and then “file” and “import”. It will give you the option to choose an Excel spreadsheet saved on your computer. You choose it, and voila! It’s all there!

using google sheets success

What are the benefits of using Google Sheets?

There are so many things you can do using Google Sheets, and I am going to cover a few features that I find really useful, in this blog and in detail in future blogs.

Topics I will be covering:

  • Sharing using Google Sheets
  • Duplicating using Google Sheets
  • Downloading options using Google Sheets
  • Saving in Google Sheets
  • Simple Formulas in Google Sheets
  • Text Wrapping using Google Sheets
  • Borders and Colours in Google Sheets
  • Inserting or deleting new columns and rows
  • Freezing columns and rows
  • Changing the type of data format in a column/row/box
  • Embedding your Google Sheet in a website
  • Creating your own invoice
 
I hope you’ve found this blog about using Google Sheets to be really helpful. If you liked this, why not share it. It might help someone you know, plus it will help me too, and it only takes a few seconds to share.

Keep your eyes open for my next blog which will be all about sharing in Google Sheets. 

To follow me Facebook go to Jo Shea VA or on Instagram @josheava

If you’re a mum in business, and could do with support but are worried about what you can afford. Contact me today to set up your free zoom consultation! I’m sure between us we can sort something out! hello@josheava.co.uk

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Celebrating Catherine

catherine
  • Catherine has two preschoolers
  • Owner and blogger for CaiteElizabeth.com 
  • Also teaches ESL (English as a second language) and works for Arbonne.

www.caiteelizabeth.com

Catherine is one of my clients. She is very creative, loves writing and teaching and has a real passion for helping others achieve a family friendly life-style and work/life balance (a lot like me). She is constantly coming up with new ideas and plans with how to help people, and I really enjoy helping her achieve that!

Her blogs are really helpful and inspiring to other parents looking for alternatives from the 9-5.

Hear all about what Catherine does, in her own words...

Hi, I’m Catherine, the owner and blogger behind caiteelizabeth.com. My blog aims to inspire and support parents wanting to work from home but they’re not sure how or where to start. I focus on areas I have personal experience in, to be able to give first-hand advice. These are Teaching English online, Network Marketing and Blogging.
 
I was inspired to start my blog due to the personal experience I had, which so many other parents face. After having my first born, I had the tough decision of continuing with my career and leaving her in nursery 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. I was completely heartbroken and didn’t know a way out. It wasn’t until I had given birth to my second child, that I came across the endless possibilities of working online and from home. 
Caite Elizabeth
I was in absolute awe and wished I had stumbled across this sooner. No longer did I have to leave my children with someone else every day. No longer did I have to spend 50 hour weeks planning, organising and teaching. 
 
I had found an opportunity, teaching online, where I work a few hours a day around my children. The freedom it provides us is incredible as a family. We are able to go on days out together so much more than before. Once my work finishes, it finishes, I don’t have to do additional planning or spend unpaid time on it. A huge benefit is that my pay meets, and more recently, exceeds the NQT wage I would have received. But instead of working 50+ hour weeks, I am working between 16-18 hours teaching.
 
I feel so fortunate and grateful to have stumbled across this huge industry, that is teaching online. That is what inspired me to create my blog. Shout out to others what working from home has to offer from an honest and real perspective. If I can help just one parent be able to quit their 9-5 rat race and work from home around their children, I will have achieved what I set out to do.

To follow Catherine on Facebook go to CatherineWilkinsonCEO or check out her blog www.CaiteElizabeth.com

If you’re a mum who has her own business, and could do with support but are worried about what you can afford. Contact me today to set up your free, child-friendly consultation! I’m sure between us we can sort something out! hello@josheava.co.uk

Continue ReadingCelebrating Catherine

Celebrating the “Mumpreneur”

It’s been a tough week this week – probably not helped by the decision less than a week ago to do this series of six blogs… not realising just how much time it would actually take! The “mummy-guilt” has been rife and the exhaustion has been high, but I always think when there seem to be a million hurdles in the way – then it’s almost definitely worth doing! So, here we go…

When I first became a VA, I read a lot of articles, blogs, did a few online training courses and asked advice from other VA’s, and one of the most important things I learnt was to find a niche, and play to my strengths. Either the kind of business or industry I wanted to work with, or specific support I could offer businesses. I honestly had no idea what kind of business I would work best with, so I just looked at what I was good at and have been offering four specific areas ever since.

I’ve met other VA’s who specifically support photographers, or some who have a background in accounts, so just focus on book keeping etc. Some just focus on health and medical businesses because they have a background in that, but I just wasn’t sure where I fit, so I continued just offering four specific services.

Over the past few weeks it’s come to me. Since joining MIBA Lancashire and North Manchester Networking group, plus other groups for mums who have businesses, I feel like I’ve seen the light. Being a mum and running a business can be hard. I’ve seen that first hand. We can feel like we’re being split in a hundred different ways!

I write a journal most nights. It just clears my head from all the day’s events, and processes any un-dealt-with thoughts that might keep me awake! (It really does work to help me sleep better!) Last night was no different. I’d had a hugely busy day, which can sometimes leave me feeling very overwhelmed and anxious! So, I wrote down everything that felt like it was splitting me into pieces!

Work – fitting new clients into my schedule whilst still carrying on the work for my regular clients, quotes I needed to give, my own admin, invoices, promoting my business, finishing my blogs for this coming week! Kids – school events to remember, costumes to get ready, homework to do, SATS to prepare for, reading with 2 children at 2 different levels, spellings, regular maths exercises – plus somewhere in there spend quality time and have fun with them! Home – housework, cooking, cleaning, shopping, filing, keeping on top of finances etc. A husband I need to spend time with. Me time! Chilling and relaxing! Others – fitting in time to see friends and family. My church – wanting to get more involved there too!

You can see why I was overwhelmed, but also, I’m sure you will have felt very much the the same at certain points! So what better way to find my niche, than in an area I understand so well; focussing on other mums who run businesses and just need that little bit of help juggling! I’ve had a dream for many years of opening a centre to support women, and this feels like a step in the right direction. I can run my own business, at the same time I can help others.

So as part of that, I am directing my business in a slightly new direction, where my prime focus will be other Mums in business. Offering child-friendly initial consultations, and meetings for clients, because I never want a Mum to feel excluded because they don’t have childcare.

www.josheava.co.uk/mums

As part of that launch, and also to coincide with the run up to International Women’s day I will be celebrating five amazing Mums in business, one per day, from 4th-8th March. 

So stay tuned!

Continue ReadingCelebrating the “Mumpreneur”

Time to Talk Mental Health – 7th February 2019

As today is Time to Talk Mental Health, I felt this would be a good blog for me to write.

As someone who’s battled Depression and Anxiety for around 18 years, it’s a subject I’m more than familiar with. I’ve mostly kept on top of it by “talking”, to my husband, to friends and to counsellors. I also find writing stuff down helps, and just writing and being creative in general. So what better way to raise mental health awareness than to talk about it, write about it, blog about it...

I’ve read the statistics, as I’m sure you have, so I know how common it is in so many people’s lives. Most of you reading this will be able to relate in some way to what I’m saying. Whether you’re going through it, have been through it, or know someone who is.

tttd19 bs image

The total confusion when depressions hits for the first time or the feeling of failure when you realise “it’s happening again!” The feeling of guilt when you see others with “real”, awful reasons to be depressed who seem strong and able to cope, while everything is going well in your life, yet even getting out of bed feels like the hardest thing in the world.

Sometimes it isn’t the big things in life that get to us the most. We go through bereavement, or a relationship breakdown, or a traumatic experience and people around us know about it. We feel it’s ok to be struggling, and people will check in.

It’s the silent, completely unseen mental health problems that I’m talking about. It’s when your kids are doing well, they’re sleeping at night, your marriage is good, you’ve got a lovely home, a car and a job you enjoy, but dropping your toast jam side down on the kitchen floor feels like the end of the world.

Slice of toast with strawberry jam upside down on floor

You don’t want to admit that you’re finding life hard, because from the outside it shouldn’t be. Yet every tiny thing that goes wrong feels like it’s crushing you from the inside out, and admitting it can feel like you’re the biggest moaner and failure you know!

You go on Facebook, post a photo of yourself with family or friends in the perfect setting, and wait for the likes to flood in. You feel good for about 5 minutes before scrolling through everyone else’s “perfect” photos and realising how unrealistic it all is! Sometimes there’s no concrete reason why you feel the way you do. Sometimes it literally just is an imbalance of chemicals.

Of course, outside influences do have an impact. Speaking as a woman and a mother, comparison is one of the worst contributors to our mental health problems. If we’re a working mum, we compare ourselves to the stay at home mum. If we’re a stay at home mum, we compare ourselves to the working mum, or another stay at home mum who’s doing it differently. If we’re single, we wish we had a family. If we’re struggling to have kids, we compare ourselves to those who have them. Am I spending enough time with my children? Should I be doing more? Am I not supporting my family enough if I’m not earning? Will my children be scarred for life because I am so tired from working and running a home that I snapped at them one too many times last week? There’s pressure from all sides, and that’s often just from ourselves, let alone others.

It’s hard to go anywhere without coming across an opinion about something. Everyone has opinions. Everyone wants to say their piece. Of course, there are things in this world that are obviously right and obviously wrong, but there are also opinions which aren’t facts, yet very often get treated as so; the ideas of someone who has a unique perspective. They’re going through what they’re going through. They’ve been through what they’ve been through. Their experience will never be the same as the next person’s.

What you’re going through can never be compared to anyone else. How you feel each day can never be compared to anybody else. We can all just live from our perspective and our experiences that shape us and grow us.

Since having our children my confidence has definitely dropped. A couple of years ago I never expected I’d have the confidence to be running my own business, but I’m doing it. Do I find it easy? Not always, no. Life isn’t easy, and sometimes it’s stronger to admit we need help, than to stay silent and pretend that everything’s fine.

If someone had told me 18 years ago when I’d just left home, some of the things I would go through, and some of the battles I’d face daily, I would never have thought I would write a public blog about it. I’ve always been a bottler… “I’m fine.” has come out of my mouth, or been shown on my face more times over the years than I can remember, when inside I’ve been crumbling. It becomes a default setting. Eventually, we have to get to a point where we’re honest with ourselves and with our loved ones.

Through all the ups and downs, I’ve pushed myself on the days I’ve felt strong enough, I’ve cried on the days I haven’t, I’ve opened up to others, some have understood, some haven’t. We live, we love, we learn from mistakes and we grow from each experience.

None of it’s easy, but we’re all doing our best, and that’s all we can do. We need to respect one another, help one another where we can, and never ever make someone feel like there’s something really wrong with them for the way they deal with a situation. We’ve all been made in a unique way. We all have something to give, and what we go through, good or bad, can be used to shape our future, as well as the future of others.

If you’re struggling, and nobody knows. Take that step. Tell someone. If you don’t feel you can tell friends or family, there are always places you can contact.

https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/time-talk-day-2019

https://www.mind.org.uk

https://www.rethink.org

As mums/women in business, we are all in this together. I’ve joined so many amazing Facebook and Networking Groups where we can do just that, and it really helps. Showing vulnerablility is scary (trust me, I’m still in two minds about whether to publish this blog), but something you write about today could be the exact thing someone needs to hear right now. Even if it just shows them they’re not the only one going through it! Let’s support each other. Let’s raise awareness. It’s Time To Talk Mental Health.

*If you want me to talk to you more about my personal experiences or even put you in touch with counsellors I have used, I would be happy to help. Comment, or contact me through my Facebook page. Jo Shea VA

**I would like to take the time to thank my husband and my best friends, for always listening and supporting me. Although this is my business blog, I feel it would be wrong not to mention such a big part of my life when talking about such a personal subject to me, so I would also like to recognise my Christian faith in God and how He has a crucial part to play in my battles with mental health. I wouldn’t be writing this without any of it!

Continue ReadingTime to Talk Mental Health – 7th February 2019

Paper and a pen… there’s nothing better!

I read somewhere that today is National Handwriting Day. I’m unsure if this is more of an American day, as on further investigation I found that the reason it’s celebrated on the 23rd January is because it’s the birthday of John Hancock who was the first to sign the declaration of independence. Either way, it inspired me to write a blog about handwriting.

ballpen book bindings business 796603

Since being a child I’ve loved writing. We didn’t have a computer until I was a teenager and even then I’ve always much preferred paper and a pen! (In fact, I have a bit of an addiction to buying stationary… Pads and pens all over the place!) I have apps on my phone which profess to make my life easier with ways of making lists, and with certain clients and in situations where I need to access something in multiple locations, on multiple devices, I definitely see the benefit.

At the same time, I also can’t give up paper lists! I love making lists. I always have. My husband thinks it’s quite hilarious. The writer within me, likes to see things written in my own hand, and it helps me get things straight in my head. Not just the list in front of me, but the process of writing it. I find writing a way to be creative, plus it’s personal and it’s therapeutic.

maia writing

As my kids have started school, I have loved helping them learn to read and write. Watching their handwriting develop. Our eldest has been at school a few years, and her target at the moment is to do joined up writing, and work on her letter heights. She is adamant that she can’t do it, but I think the issue is she writes so well, and so fast already, she feels she is going backwards if she changes. Our youngest, on the other hand, is very different. She has only just started and is only beginning to write, but already I can see she is very particular, and will not rush it, so her writing at times is very neat considering how new to it she is.

Times are very different, even from when I was young, and in the digital age, more and more people are typing. Obviously in my line of work, I see the importance of being able to type, as it’s my main method of communication. This said, it makes me sad to think that maybe one day, handwriting will be secondary to typing and paper and pens may be left on the shelf.

To me there is nothing more satisfying than making a list, writing someone a personal card or letter, or just writing down how I am feeling.

Today, as we think about handwriting, think of a way you can
keep writing alive, and share in the comments below if you’d like.

Continue ReadingPaper and a pen… there’s nothing better!