Confessions of a Spreadsheet Lover

I practiced Excel logic statements for hours last night and this morning. Last night I needed to calm myself after bombing a prospective employer’s Excel evaluation test. Two wrong answers in a row made my heart pound, my hands shake.

You might have thought I had never seen the program before, and I have used one version or another for years. So embarrassing. This morning, I reinforced what I learned last night. All good.

I learned logic statements on Lotus 1-2-3 years ago. The Lotus statements tended toward the elegant, they were almost literary in their construction. I have always found the Excel counterparts clunky and awkward and not at all based on instinct. Not that I have done any scientific research, but I’m not the only Excel user who feels this way.

But Lotus no longer exists and sometimes I really miss its good old days.

I had to realign my thinking to have any success with the Excel statements and that was like retraining entrenched muscle memory. Not easy.

But I do enjoy a good spreadsheet.

I open a new one when I have a problem to solve, especially and accountng problem, but I don’t stop there. If I have something to plan, or a situation to figure out I turn to a spreadsheet. I came up with one to map my progress on a large writing project. I think I have finally hit on a good format to keep track of literary magazine submission windows.

With a spreadsheet I create a world and give it a set of rules. I establish a frame for the specific knowledge I need to navigate the bigger world, to achieve a larger purpose. A good spreadsheet creates context.

If a couple of incorrect Excel logic statements on a random evaluation blew my chances to work for this organization, I’ll be disappointed. Never will I be deterred from a spreadsheet, though.