My love affair with Microsoft Excel (and Google Sheet) extends far back and likely stems from my interest with mathematics and engineering. However, I wont bore you with any further details. Just know I find these tools very useful when it comes to managing project cost estimates, client directories, proposal/submittal log tracking, graphic dashboards, personal budgeting and vacations. Everyone gravitates to methods and programs that serve them best. Allow me to introduce you to an simple interactive task list tracker I built in Google Sheets. Perhaps it can help you out.
We all have numerous tasks to complete at work and in our personal lives on any given day. As much as I enjoy manual reminders binders, notepads and sticky notes, they can be cumbersome and even get misplaced. In the past I would have a Microsfot Word and use it as a running log for tasks. This method was decent but lacked some practicality. Hence the interactive tracker.
Its quite simple actually. The header contains information that you can tailor to your own needs; however, for this example I created areas to input your Company Name, Branch/Area, Project Manager Name (you or your colleague), and an automated cell that populates the current date.
The first column just itemizes your tasks, as you drag these cells down they continue the order. Columns “Contract Number”, “Project Name”, “Task Description” and “Date Due” are fairly self explanatory. Adding as much detail to these categories as you can will benefit you more on the backend of managing these projects, especially if it is a task that will take a substantial amount of time to complete. The second column highlight in a light blue color states whether a task is open or closed. Do not alter these cells, by default they state “Open” (note that these cell are driven by other conditional formatting clauses).
There are two conditional fomulas with this active worksheet. The first is driven by due dates. If a Due Date cell is not blank the cells will check to see if its value is within a 7 Day window from Todays Date. If so, the cell will automatically become highlighted by a red color. This will be your call to action Batman (consider these higher priorities).
The second condition is activated by the user activating the checkbox by a click. This triggers three different actions: the status text will be changed to “Close”, the row will be grayed out and a timestamp will be populated showing when the task was completed.
I am working on a script feature to have the red highlighted “Due Date” alert triggers also send out a quick email. I think it would be a cool programming exercise…Anyhow if you would like the link to download the beta copy to your Google Drive click here.
Creative Catalyst 