How to Manage Your Online Tasks With Excel

Working At The Computer

I have been spending a great deal of time working at the computer writing, researching, and learning. I find that there is so much to do and never finish. It is ongoing work. It seems like I can't keep up: I'll realize later on that I forgot to do something, or that I should have done C instead of A, or I might need to informally schedule a priority for the next day.

I came up with the idea of keeping track of all of my tasks on a spreadsheet. I list the tasks, the day, what I worked on, and what I should work on the next day. I can even give the scheduled tasks priorities.

Things You'll Need

• computer
• Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheet program

Instructions

1. 

   First, list all of your tasks that you work on at your desk/computer. You can start this around the 5th row so that you can leave room at the top to format your sheet to your preference. I format all of my personal spreadsheets with borders, colors, fonts, etc. I find spreadsheets boring without formatting.

2. 

   On the next column, one row above the listed tasks,list the days (or dates) going across (maybe start on cell C3, depending where you started the task list).

3. 

   Type an X in the appropriate cell when you complete the task for that day.

4. 

   You can schedule a task for the next day(s) by putting in another symbol. I personally fill the cell with a color. If I have multiple tasks to be completed, I'll put in different colors. If I don't accomplish the task, I'll leave the cell filled. If I complete it, I'll remove the fill and X it.

5. 

   Create a legend at the bottom (in case that you forget what the colors or symbols mean). This is only necessary for those of us who don't manage our time well and can't prioritize.

6. 

   You can format a spreadsheet to your preference. This step just shows a formatted sheet with the title, borders, etc.

   It is shown in print preview to show the legend also without having to scroll.

Tips & Warnings

• You can add rows and columns as you go.

• You can delete the previous columns of dates as you go, since the sheet will get bigger.

• You can allot a certain amount of time to tasks and list them schedule to continue them the next day.