Data Realism and the Missing Keystrokes
April is over, and so is Oz du Soleil's daily video blog. I am still catching up on them here in early May.
Tonight I caught a look at Oz's Excel work environment.
It's fascinating to see others' Excel work habits -- especially those of an Excel master. This got me thinking about data realism and the importance of seemingly minute points like keyboard shortcuts.
Data realism
I like that Oz focuses on real-life Excel challenges and habits. There's a tendency for Excel content to push heavy data science and development. That's great, but it might not make sense for a two-person department just trying to get commissions out on time and accurately.
I call my approach and Oz's "data realism" -- focus on small steps toward better data. You're not going to get heavy VBA or SQL lessons here. Instead, I want to help you put your liberal arts degree to use and avoid wasted hours cleaning crummy data.
The missing keystrokes
To this end, I do cover quick, actionable tips like keyboard shortcuts. Not too sexy, but useful.
Sometimes the built-in shortcuts for Excel are clunky -- or they don't exist. So in the name of data realism, I'd like to ask you readers -- what are your missing keystrokes?
By this I mean: are there any keyboard shortcuts that you'd like to have or have added via a macro? Here are some of mine, for example:
- Highlight cells red, yellow, and green
- Wrap text -- update: Thanks to Alex at Excel Strategies for a new one... Alt + H + W will do this.
- Format cells as a percentage with 0 decimal points -- other than Alt + H + 0
Little steps like setting up these shortcuts can make your reports look better and run faster -- giving you more time to do things with your data rather than caring for it.
All right, data realists, your turn: What are your missing keystrokes?
George, I really like your profound Excel musings! While many users treat Excel as a data entry tool, Oz and you add the "Data Realism" dimension to this mix. Maybe one day you would tackle the concept of "Data Objectivism"?! Re: Missing shortcuts. A. Format cells a percentage with 0 decimal points. Maybe CTRL+SHIFT+% would do the trick for you? In case you do need to add decimal points, then you could use ALT+H+0 shortcut. (As most of us know right-mouse click (or should I say SHIFT + F10) is our best friend using MS Excel. Similarly ALT key should become our go-to keyboard key for anything shortcut-related, since it is our getaway to everything that Excel ribbon has to offer ) B. Text Wrap Perhaps I'm oversimplifying, but you might want to start with ALT+H+W? Regards, Alex
Interesting concept. A power user is just one that owns their realm. Focusing on mastery over the day to day will give you prime learning opportunities.
"Data Realism." I like that term. And thanks for the shout-out. Hmmm ... missing keyboard shortcuts. It's nice to double-click and have a formula copy down a column. I'd like to have a way to send a formula to the right and fill in a row.