My rules for making great spreadsheets (in Google Sheets or Excel)

1) Round numbers: use "decrease decimal point" or "format" to automatically round numbers to the greatest number of decimal points that are truly useful (so 0.15, not 0.15121215 and 32%, not 32.42%). 2) Set units: use the "format" feature to make percentages into actual percentages (ending in %), to make dollar figures into actual dollar figures (starting with $), and so on. This makes it easier to interpret figures at a glance. 3) Use formulas: anything that can be calcul...
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The formula for productivity – and what you can do with it

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Written: January 23, 2019 | Released: September 16, 2021 There is a simple formula for thinking about how to be more productive that most people aren't familiar with. It breaks down productivity into the product of three factors, namely: PRODUCTIVITY = TIME x EFFICIENCY x OBJECTIVE More explicitly:PRODUCTIVITY(i.e., the total value - according to your own values - of your work each week on a goal of yours)= TIME(i.e., the total hours you work on the goal each week)x EFFICIENCY(i.e., th...
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The Problem with Pseudo Work

Pseudo work (PW) is a problem. Pseudo work consists of tasks that feel productive but neither contribute to your goals nor help anyone else to any meaningful degree. PW (pseudo work) is neither fun nor useful but, because it feels like work, we allow ourselves to do it and consider it work time. That means we may not even have it on our radar as something to get rid of (unlike pure procrastination time, which we know we want to reduce). Yet if we remove PW, we can free up time for either real w...
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Getting Yourself To Act How You Know You Should

Just because you know what you should do, doesn't mean that you're going to do it. You may know that it would be smart to lose weight, but aren't on a diet. You may be convinced that when you're feeling tired during the day you should do jumping jacks to boost your energy, but instead you lie down on the couch. You may know that using a formal decision making procedure is a good idea when you're trying to make important decisions, yet you've never bother to use one. So why don't we always do ...
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