back and forth and back again

September 3, 2009 8:28 AM

I'm going through a spreadsheet or a hand written list which requires me to check off each item as it's completed (common boring, repetitive work). I find that the process of switching back to that original list and checking/crossing out/deleting each item as it's done is the most time consuming part due to the context switch (having to move your eyes to a different interface/screen/paper). Are there any tricks (ruling out additional data entry to consolodate the data into a single interface) to minimize or eliminate this inefficiency?
posted by parallax7d to work & money (7 comments total)

When working with lists on paper (especially spreadsheets), never underestimate the power of a blank piece of paper used as placeholder. Line it up with the first item you need, and then slide as necessary, rather than making any pencil mark (make those later, if you need to). One simple motion, and your eyes immediately know where to go.
posted by oinopaponton at 8:33 AM on September 3

If the list isn't too heavy / thick you could put it on a document holder that stands up; some even attach directly to the monitor, making it easy to adjust your eyes, and many have some kind of transparent plastic overlay ruler that you can use to mark your place.
posted by PontifexPrimus at 8:37 AM on September 3 [1 favorite]

Yup to both of the suggestions above, I hope they help.

Another simple thing to bear in mind is that you should find a small mark/tick you can make to indicate to yourself that you've done that item. You can stop every 10 or 20 items and actually cross it out if that's required, but a small, red pen mark, for example, could be your sign to cross it out (this would also make it easier to do if the document is upright as it only requires one hand).

If you don't have a document holder you can try using a large paperclip to attach it to your monitor... not ideal but...
posted by HopStopDon'tShop at 12:54 PM on September 3

Scan the papers and then alt-tab between the excel window and the window with the scan. If the scan is open in word or an image program or whatever then you can use the mouse to mark it off.
posted by Iteki at 1:08 PM on September 3

Get a second monitor.
posted by Jacqueline at 6:04 PM on September 3

YES, YES and YES- I have been doing this way too much lately and am happy to help out an any way that I can- vlookup is your best friend!

You can google vlookup and learn about it off of microsoft's website, but, if you are like me, it makes absolutely no sense.

This will ONLY work if there is a column with no duplicate values in it that are the same between both workbooks.

Here's the breakdown- put the workbooks together as 2 different worksheets in the same workbook.

Move the columns that are the same in both worksheets to column A and sort ascending, this has to be done for vlookup to work.

In the worksheet you want to marry the data into, create a new column next to column A and name it something like vlookup.

use the following formula:

=VLOOKUP(A2,clearview!$A$2:$AR$3327,11,FALSE)

what the hell is this you are saying to yourself.

A2 is the first cell in the working document.

Clearview! is the name of the worksheet you want to pull from

$A$2:$AR$3327 is the spread of the data set in the worksheet you want to pull from. So if the data set runs from A2 to AR3327 from the top left to the bottom right of the whole data set.

11 is the number of the column you want to pull the data from.

True or False will always be put at the end.

If you need more help, mefi me, I have done this hundreds of times over the past week or 2.
posted by TheBones at 8:20 PM on September 3

Obviously, this will only work if you scan your documents and import them to excel. I'm sorry if this isn't an option for you.
posted by TheBones at 8:22 PM on September 3 [1 favorite]