Sometimes the only way to resolve a cranky pants situation with my kids (or my spreadsheets) is to put on my detective hat.

I go step by step, isolate and test the variables, make small adjustments, and eventually solve the problem.

Cranky pants for my kids usually happens after they’ve been in one place for too long. To resolve, I mix up the environment, the activities/toys, check for a dirty diaper, etc.

Cranky pants for my spreadsheets usually happens after I make one critical change in the data structure, or even the name of a worksheet (if I didn’t set things up to be dynamic enough in advance). To resolve, I check each broken formula, make little adjustments, until it’s all working correctly.

If you’re in the middle of a spreadsheet cranky pants situation of your own, and would like an expert’s detective hat to help you resolve it, send me a message or leave a comment.

I’ll do an audit of your spreadsheet to find the obvious errors, and not so obvious ones, to save you time and headaches, so you can get back to your life.

#crankypants #detectivehat #excelaudit #avoidablefrusttation #savetime #parentwisdom #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

As a parent, I can’t help but think how much there is to know, and how many skills I need to have in order to set my kids up for success. It can be quite overwhelming, until I think about the 3 key areas that are essential no matter what:

1. Sleep
2. Diet
3. Activity

If these are the only things I do well as a parent, at the very least I will have laid the foundation for learning, growth, and all the more advanced and complex areas of my children’s development.

Similarly, Excel has no shortage of topics and skills, yet after 13 years I have found the 3 cornerstones of spreadsheet success to be:

1. Navigation
2. Formatting
3. Formulas

If these are the only skills you focus on, not only will you have a strong foundation that most people are missing, but there is no limit to why you can accomplish, and no unnecessary distractions from all the more advanced Excel topics.

Curious to learn more? Leave a comment or send me a message and I’ll share an assessment that measures your current abilities in these 3 Excel areas.

#disproportionatevalue #reduceoverwhelm #priorities #fundamentals #parentwisdom #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

Today I dropped my car off at the shop for the very first time. There were no visible signs that anything was wrong with the car, so why did I bring it in?

1. The dashboard had large orange letters that read “MAINTENANCE DUE SOON.”
2. In my CARFAX Car Care app it showed that it was time for an oil change and tire rotation. It also said some magical words about the importance of this kind of regular maintenance: it helps “avoid costly repairs.”

Sure, I love to be proactive and seek positive outcomes. However, I am EVEN MORE motivated to avoid negative outcomes, and I’m sure I’m not alone here. Very clever wording from CARFAX :).

With a recent 1-on-1 Excel Training client, I helped him avoid costly time wasting errors by creating a fairly automated process of downloading business credit card transactions and analyzing them from there, as opposed to manually entering transactions from a monthly PDF statement. This is merely a simple example of how using Excel efficiently can save you hours or days.

Ready to bring your spreadsheets in for maintenance with an expert, to avoid costly repairs later?

Leave a comment or send me a message so we can set up a quick call and determine if we’re a good fit to work together.

#proactive #carownertips #savetimeandmoney #automation #consultanexpert #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

No matter how many times I tell Amina to slow down with slippery shoes, she will continue to run around. That is, until she falls down.

For better or worse this is how I, and arguably most humans, learn best. I need that slight pain and discomfort to remind me to prevent certain mistakes from happening again.

Fortunately, if you take the time to learn from your mistakes, you will eventually become quite adept at avoiding them, and even designing processes that proactively remove them from your experience.

If you would like to dramatically shortcut the learning process in Excel, I am offering a 30 minute session, along with a personalized lesson plan and learning objectives that will identify the 20% of topics and skills that will yield 80% of the results and time savings for you.

Leave a comment or send me a message and I’ll send you the details.

#learningprocess #handson #resilience #parentwisdom #excelwell #sharetheexcellove

While waiting at the doctor’s office, Amina and I passed the time with the play kitchen. I love the open-ended nature of these kinds of toys, because it promotes so much exploration and creativity. It also creates a strong familiarity with the real thing (in this case, a kitchen).

As she grows up she will be more and more involved in the food preparation process so this is a great introduction. Another big benefit from the play kitchen is that it’s a safe space to experiment without risking getting hurt.

In Excel I always encourage duplication of project files for clients and students to safely explore, familiarize themselves with the details of the project, and of course to PLAY and let their creative juices flow. It removes all mental barriers, and best of all, it’s quick and free!

Have a question about how to set up your own sandbox? Leave a comment or send me a message.

#sandbox #safeexploration #backups #creativity #plantingseeds #parentwisdom #excelwell #sharetheexcellove