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The skill you’ll need to grow your biz 📈

And how to create auto-borders in Excel!

Hey hey! So, now that you’ve earned your title as the “Spreadsheet Superhero,” 🦸 don’t you wish your co-workers would up-level their Excel skills too so that they can save time—and stop asking you for help every five minutes? I have just the thing: 👀 Corporate live-training workshops! Fill out the form here and we’ll send you a PDF with more deets (and yes, we have bulk course discount options!).

Borders Boring You? Here’s an Excel Auto Border Tip

Are your spreadsheets full of dense and complex data? (I know mine are 🙋‍♀️).

Then they’re probably difficult to read—which means Excel borders are about to be your new BFF. They’ll help make your spreadsheet more presentable and readable, especially if you plan to print your data!

“But Kat, you taught us about gridlines in last week’s newsletter. Aren’t borders and gridlines basically the same thing?”

Nope. Borders 1) are more distinguishable 2) need to be applied manually and 3) can be applied to specific cells or ranges.

There’s just one problem with borders: Usually, you have to manually add them while inserting new data. Luckily, I have a tip that adds borders automatically to help save some time! ⏱

Step 1️⃣) Select all your columns. Under the “Home” tab, navigate to “Conditional Formatting.” 

Step 2️⃣) Navigate to “New Rule…” and select “Use a formula to determine which cells to format.”

Step 3️⃣) Under “Edit the Rule Description:”, type in =$A2 and then go to “Format…”

💡 Excel Tip: The =$ is to absolute reference what’s happening in Column A to the right. So, when you type something into the first column, the borders will apply for all of them.

Step 4️⃣) Under “Border,” select “Outline,” before hitting “OK.” Then hit “OK” one last time!

Step 5️⃣) Voila! The borders update automatically, or you can also drag them down!

The Nudge Behind This $200K Side Hustle

Have you ever sent out helpful nudges and received $200,000 for the effort? I wish, right? But writer, podcaster, course creator, and multi-hyphenate creator Jay Clouse figured it out. The Creator Science creator (say that 10x fast) grew a $200,000 side hustle through reciprocity.

Join Phill Agnew, senior product marketer at Buffer and host of The Nudge podcast, as he learns exactly how reciprocity works, the science behind it, and how Jay Clouse used it to grow his business.

Check out the episode to learn how—then get that bag.

The Skill You’ll Need To Grow Your Business

Back in June, I was on a plane headed to Greece for vacation. It should have been the beginning of a stress-free, ah-mazing time—but your girl was feeling off. 🧐

Although Miss Excel was growing, I was starting to fray at the seams. My to-do list felt never-ending.

With five hours left on the flight, I start listening to a Boss Babe podcast episode with James Wedmore on how to design your dream life. About 53 minutes in, I had a much-needed epiphany:

Until then, Miss Excel was my baby. But the problem with that perspective is that I didn’t trust anyone to step in—and without outside help, your business just can’t scale.

So once I landed in Greece, I posted a few new job openings (spreadsheet specialist, corporate trainer, etc.) for Miss Excel.

Fast forward to today and my team has saved me so much time, excelling in what they’re good at while letting me excel in what I love to do.

That first hire will be tough (the fear of someone else reading your emails is real 😂), but to grow your business, you have to be able to “let go” so it can “go grow.” You can only do so much solo before you’re stretched paper thin!

The good news is that delegation is a simple two-step recipe: clarity and trust.

Clearly define the tasks you’re handing over, and trust in others’ capabilities to do them. Nail these both and you’ll have a business that gives you life (instead of stressing you out).

  • Talking about delegating, Jenny Blake’s Free Time is the perfect book if you’re looking to redefine your work–life balance.

  • Five Excel shortcuts you probably didn’t know—the third one is my favorite. 😎

  • What’s your Excel bad habit score? 👀 (P.S. If you add cells with a calculator, that’s +2 points).

  • A productive morning routine that doesn’t involve getting up at 4 AM (phew).

  • I found these three journaling prompts so helpful for improving my gratitude practice. 💌

Instead of painstakingly looking up emojis, try this shortcut instead!

For Windows users, I got you: Just simultaneously hit the Windows logo and period.

Stay Exceling,

Kat