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How to have fewer meetings š„
Plus: Hide sensitive information in Excel
Hey! Iām hosting a āØfree ⨠Excel class today through Saturday on XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, and VBA Macros. In just one hour, youāllā¦
āļø Become a pro at automating spreadsheets
āļø Learn how to save dozens of hours down the line
āļø Feel more confident at work (so you can go for that promotion š)
You can join us right here! But if you canāt make it during those times, no sweat. Iāve set up 48-hour replays if you sign up for any date!


How To Hide Secrets (in Excel)

We all have them.
Secrets. š Whether itās what you did at last yearās holiday party or [insert irrational fear here], we all have sensitive information weād rather not share with the world.
We canāt control whether people will spill our secrets. But, we can censor confidential data in Excel so it doesnāt end up in the wrong hands.

This is an Excel skill you need to know:
š If you handle personal information (e.g., SSNs, email addresses, home addresses, employee IDs), censoring data prevents identity theft or maintains privacy.
š¤ Sharing your companyās Excel files with other businesses? Youāll need to censor certain data to avoid sharing trade secrets.
š¼ If your company collaborates with third-party vendors, you might have sensitive data (such as sales numbers) you donāt want to share.
Letās try this out with a real-life example, shall we?
Imagine your boss asks you to hide everyoneās employee ID number.
Hereās how youād do it:
Step 1) Start with the LEFT function and insert the cell with the data youād like to hide. In our case, thatās B2

Step 2) Add a comma and how many characters you want visible at the beginning of the cell. Close the parentheses. We want the first six characters visible, so we now have =LEFT(B2,6)

Step 3) Add &ā and asterisks (asterisks represent the hidden characters). Close with ā&. Our updated formula is =LEFT(B2,6)&ā****ā&

Step 4) Insert the RIGHT function. Then select the same cell (e.g. B2), add a comma, and how many characters you want visible at the end of the cell (I want two!).
Our final formula is =LEFT(B2,6)&ā****ā&RIGHT(B2,2)

Voila! Now your sensitive data is nice and secure. š


Help, Iām Drowning in Meetings
Do you ever find yourself in a virtual meeting and wish you could justā¦

Same! š If thereās one thing I remember from my early corporate days, itās that your girl was in meetings. A lot of meetingsāto the point where I couldnāt focus on the work I was hired to do.
It turns out I wasnāt alone. š¤·āāļø Research shows that 70% of meetings prevent employees from working and completing their to-do lists, and 92% of employees see them as costly and unproductive.
Fortunately, I was able to reduce the number of meetings by roughly 50% (and get way more done) through some tough conversations and boundary-setting.
If youāre in this third stage of career development (hereās what I mean ā¬ļø) I have some tips for you.

1) šāāļø Schedule them all at once instead of throughout the day. āKat, why would I ever voluntarily do back-to-back meetings?!ā
I know, but hear me out! Those one-hour (ish) time slots in-between meetings are rarely productive. Itās hard to do deep work when you need 23 minutes to get into your flow zone.
Knocking them all out at once gives you more free time later on to sit down and focus.
2) š āāļø Block your prime time. Figure out when youāre most productive. Then, block this slot on your calendar (so it auto-declines meetings) as a recurring event. Set this for as many days as you can around the meetings you have to go to.
3) š£ Be honest. If meetings are severely impacting your ability to work, itās time to chat with your manager. It might sound intimidating, but rememberā¦
ā The manager is here to set you up for success.
ā Itās up to you to advocate for yourself and your quality of work.
And hey, if all that fails, you can pitch using Shopifyās meeting cost calculator to your company (half-kidding). That 30-minute meeting with three co-workers? It could cost up to $1,600. š¤Æ
It sounds wild, but Shopifyās ethos is that meetings should be deliberate and clearāand thatās something I can definitely get behind. šÆ


The cool Excel dashboard hack thatās been bookmarked over 283 times. š
I refer to Microsoftās article on best practices for Outlook all the time. Helpful, detailed, and just chefs kiss. š¤
Need to split a header in Excel? I got you!
This entrepreneur challenged herself to work as little as possible on her business. Her results are wild.
Is AI just hype? Dan Toomey from Good Work investigates. šµļø


Last week I asked you: Team XLOOKUP or Team VLOOKUP? Hereās what our poll had to say:

Team #LOOKUP forever. ā¤ļø
But if you arenāt sure how either work? Donāt worry. My free class hosted today through Saturday covers them both (and so much more!).
Stay Exceling,
Kat