Even though I consider myself to be frugally “green”, I’m guilty of still receiving plenty of paper from mail statements that show my brokerage account activities and other important documents.  I also would buy paper at the store (notebooks and such) to doodle ideas on and keep track of things such as list and research on various topics.

While the doodling my ideas on paper is still something that I will continue to do, the other forms of paper use are starting to go on the decline because my increase use of Google Documents.

How I Started Using Google Documents

One day, I was taking my lunch at the library, when I tried to log into a site that required a login and password (I have at least 100 of these).  Sure enough, I couldn’t remember what either my account name or password was (grrr).  This is when I started creating a spreadsheet of low risk online sites that I would record certain data about the various site names and URLs that I’ve visited, along with the corresponding accounts and passwords.  By doing this, I instantly have this information at my virtual fingertips without having to carry around a notebooks of passwords (never a safe thing to do).

Sometimes, I would be in my “Sites, Accounts and Passwords” google spreadsheet and I will notice a site that I haven’t logged onto recently but that I knew was a good site.  So in that way, it also helps me remember things too!

Evolution of A Google Documents User

From my extremely useful passwords spreadsheet, I started using google documents for number crunching, to-do list, and other things that formerly existed in a paper form.

Perhaps the biggest impact is that I started putting my business information and systems into the spreadsheets.  There is nothing better than having access to your business information at all times.  You could be in the doctor’s office, waiting to pick up your kids, etc and at the same time be working on your business documents or planning something important.  This is a win-win.

Future of My Google Documents Use

The awesome thing about the google documents is that they use a JavaScript type language to script out task.  The scripts combined with a time/scheduler in google enables things to run automatically.  This is very powerful!  You could create simple applications in google documents that could make your life much simple.

All in all, this is a great way to go especially when you consider that Google Documents is free (vs Microsoft Office).  I’m sure in future, my paper usage will continue to decline…

Have you every tried Google Documents, and what is your take on their office suite?

Going green,

MR