My 1 favorite life hack 💡

Hey there! Is 2024 the year you plan on landing your dream job or securing a raise? 👀 Then don’t miss my (free!) XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP classes. In just one hour, you’ll upgrade your Excel skills, making you more valuable at work—leveraging your time, salary, and title. 😎 There are only two classes left: 

• Thursday, November 9th at 3 PM EST 

• Friday, November 10th at 12 PM EST 

^{If none of the dates work for you, you can register to get the free replay!} 

Grab your seats here. I can’t wait to see you there!

How to Use XLOOKUP With Multiple Criteria 

Imagine you’re at the office (or if you’re reading this from the office…hey 👋). 

It’s 4:58 PM, and you’re about to log out for the day when your boss asks you to find some data from a spreadsheet. 

“Not a problem! I’ll just XLOOKUP,” you think. But then you realize that what you’re looking for has multiple criteria. Those happy hour plans start to slowly fade away… 🫠

You may have only ever used XLOOKUP for one condition—but I have a tip that allows you to use it for multiple criteria. The best part? Happy hour plans can stay on the cal. Let’s dive in:

Say you want to find the price of a Hershey’s. We have four criteria: candy, size, nuts or no nuts, and price (yes, Halloween just passed but its spirit lives on).

There you have it! We go over XLOOKUP tips just like these (and tons more!) in my Excel class today and tomorrow. It’s not too late to join and level up your skill set so you’ll never miss another after-work hang again. 😄

One of My Favorite Life Hacks 

The #1 life hack I swear by? It’s not getting up at 5 AM. It’s not cold plunges, breathing exercises, or celery juice. It’s not even meditation—and if you know me, you know how much meditation has changed my life! 

It’s constantly switching up my routine. 

For the past few months, I've been adding some ✨ pizzazz ✨ to my day-to-day. In September, I visited a glacier cave 10,000 feet above a mountain. The next week, I was traveling the Arizona desert. But I was also adding in some smaller changes: trying a new coffee shop, workout class, dinner recipe, etc.

Why I go out of my way to do new things? 

Neuroplasticity. Here’s what I mean: 

• Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to form synaptic connections. When we follow our routine, our brain uses the same neural pathways. 

• Over time, these pathways become highly efficient. But there’s a tradeoff: a cognitive “rigidity” where we’re less able to adapt to new information or situations. 

The key to melting that rigidity? You guessed it—switching up our routines. It snaps us out of autopilot so we can develop new brain pathways, improving cognitive functions such as memory, problem-solving, and creativity. 

When you adapt to something new (whether it’s as small as trying a new grocery store or as big as moving to a new city), you’re enhancing your ability to learn and grow. This propels you toward your goals instead of keeping you in your comfort zone. 

Author Jen Sincero has a great way of explaining just how trying new things is key to our personal growth: 

So go out there and break your routine. I promise it’ll pay off in more ways than one! 🍂

• This list of 100 productivity tips for Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Outlook is incredible. 🤩

• 11 features in Windows 11 you won’t want to miss (the file explorer tab is my favorite!). 

• The No Straight Path podcast aims to humanize success—without the shiny resumes and social media highlights. Check out their latest conversation with author and psychiatrist Justin Key.*

• How to have a ‘Bare Minimum Monday’ and still crush your to-do list. 💪

• Why sometimes the best thing you can do is figure out what not to do. 

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Thanks for being here and hope to see you in class! Almost 40,000 of you saved your seat and my excitement levels are through the roof. To deal, your girl is swapping out the coffee for tea this week so I don't bounce off the walls. 🤣 

Stay Exceling,

Kat