Month: December 2020

5 Tips to Help You Work With Microsoft Excel Like a Pro

Excel is a Microsoft application that allows users to enter, organize, format, and perform calculations on data using functions and formulas. Microsoft Excel is not free. You must pay a subscription fee for Microsoft 365 to use it.

With many organizations currently using Microsoft Excel for data entry, storage, and analysis, having a faster and more efficient way to access tools and features on the app is essential.

Check out our latest video to learn more about Microsoft Excel tips you can use to become an expert:

What Are The Top Tips for Working With Excel Data?

Keyboard Shortcuts

Microsoft Excel supports keyboard shortcuts. Using keyboard shortcuts for Excel helps users to work faster and more efficiently. These keyboard shortcuts make it easier for you to perform tasks.

Some of the frequently used keyboard shortcuts in Excel include:

• To open a workbook, press Ctrl + O
• To save a workbook, press Ctrl + S
• To copy highlighted text, press Ctrl + C
• To cut highlighted text, press Ctrl + X
• To paste the text you had copied or cut, press Ctrl + V
• To undo an action, press Ctrl + Z
• To redo an action, press Ctrl +Y
• To find a text, press Ctrl + F
• To find and replace a text, press Ctrl + H
• To print a workbook, press Ctrl + P
• To select an entire worksheet, press Ctrl + A
• To go the last column in a row or the last row in a column, press End.

These keyboard shortcuts will vary depending on your operating system. To learn more about the available keyboard shortcuts and which ones apply to you, read here.

Inserting Dates in Excel

Let’s say you want to enter the Excel current time or date. You may also want to automatically display the current time and date in a cell every time an Excel worksheet is opened or recalculated. Microsoft Excel provides various ways of doing this.

A static value doesn’t change when an Excel workbook is opened or a worksheet is recalculated.

To insert a static time or date into an Excel cell:

• On your desired worksheet, select the cell into which you want to insert the current time or date.
• Do one of the following:
  • To insert the current date, press Ctrl+; (semi-colon)
  • To insert the current time, press Ctrl+ Shift+; (semi-colon)
  • To insert the current date and time, press Ctrl+; (semi-colon), press Space, and then press Ctrl+ Shift+; (semi-colon).

To insert a date or time that automatically updates when the workbook is opened or the worksheet is recalculated:

• To insert the current time or date so that it is updatable, use the NOW and TODAY functions.
• The function =TODAY () inserts the current date while =NOW () inserts the current date and time

Entering Repeating Data and Formula in Excel Columns

Microsoft Excel provides several tools that you can use to fill a column with the same numbers or text. Instead of filling each cell manually, you can quickly enter data into the entire column. To do this:

• Enter data into the first cell in the column
• Click the cell to select it, and then hover your pointer over the bottom right corner of the cell until your pointer turns into a black “+” sign, commonly known as the Fill Handle
• Double-click your mouse

Excel copies the exact value in the first cell into all the other cells

Automatically Filling in Months, Days, or Numbers in Excel

Microsoft Excel provides an autofill feature that fills a column or row with numbers, names of the months, days, or years.

To autofill in sequential numbers, days of the week or months:

• Enter the first number or name of the day of the week or month that begins the series.
• Hover your mouse pointer over the bottom right corner of the cell until you see the Fill Handle.
• With your LEFT mouse button pressed, drag to select the cells you want to autofill. The cells will be filled when you release the mouse.

To autofill in numbers, days, and months with a step value:

• Enter the first two numbers or names of the days of the week or months so that Excel can determine the pattern.
• Hover your mouse pointer over the bottom right corner of the cell until you see the Fill Handle.
• With your LEFT mouse button pressed, drag to select the cells you want to autofill. The cells will be filled when you release the mouse.

Entering Formulas and Functions in Excel

A formula is an expression that operates on values in a cell or within a range of cells. A formula in Excel should always be preceded by an equal sign (=). Functions, on the other hand, are predetermined formulas in Excel. They are also always preceded by an equal sign.

Let’s say you want to sum values in cells A1, A2, and A3. If we’re going to use a formula to perform this calculation, we will key in =A1 + A2 + A3 on the desired cell. On the other hand, if we’re going to use a function, we will key in =SUM(A1:A3)

Some of the commonly used Excel functions include:

• SUM() — used to add values from a selection of cells
• AVERAGE() — Used to find the mean or average of data in a given range
• COUNT() — Used to count all the cells in a given range that contain only numeric values
• COUNTA() — Used to count all the cells in a given range regardless of the type of data
• IF() — Used to sort out data using a given condition
• RAND() — Used to generate evenly distributed random numbers between 0 and 1
• RANDBETWEEN() — Used to generate evenly distributed random numbers between the specified range

Looking for a Reliable Microsoft Solutions Provider in Dallas?

At Data Magic Computer Services, we offer years of experience and expertise in providing IT solutions to businesses throughout Dallas and Fort Worth.

Consult with us today, or call us on (469) 635-5500 and let us help you integrate and customize Microsoft Excel to fit your business’ unique needs.

Vet Tech Career Burnout

A recent study by AVMA shows that up to 49% of veterinary professionals experience “moderate-to-substantial” workplace burnout. How does this affect employee satisfaction and turnover rates?

Nobody wants to invest in becoming a vet tech only to get sick of it in less than ten years. The sad reality, however, is that this is the truth — this career is currently witnessing widespread cases of employee burnout. California State University’s graduate faculty recently released a thesis that fronts that “the profession of Veterinary Technology has an extremely high turnover rate with an estimated average practice life of five years.”

In this read, Data Magic Computer Services delves into the leading causes of increased vet tech career burnout and how we can help. We are the number one IT services company in Fort Worth and Dallas.

What Are the Main Causes of Vet Tech Career Burnout?

We can generally describe burnout as a protracted, negative response to workplace stress. Most employee burnout prevention guides front that the starting point is to work on your attitude. This is true — every career path has its equal share of ups and downs; it’s your attitude that determines whether you burn out or stay motivated. While we agree with this approach, we also think that it addresses the aftereffects rather than the causes of workplace stress.

To reduce career burnout in this industry, we must first understand the root causes:

• Low Wages: Low salaries and poor benefits are obviously one of the reasons vet techs burn out. Suppose a vet tech was making an average of $100,000 per year; there wouldn’t be much grumbling.
• Little or No Recognition: Most vet techs complain that they’re barely recognized despite putting in hours of work to ensure things run smoothly. Worse still, other professionals (especially vets) often treat them as though they are inferior.
• Too Many Responsibilities: Usually, most veterinary clinics maintain just one ‘IT Guy’ or two experts at most to handle their entire IT infrastructure. It’s literally impossible for just a couple of professionals to keep up with the fast-changing IT dynamics and stay on top of the game at all times.

How Do Outdated Systems Contribute To Vet Tech Burnout? How often do you update your software? Is your hardware able to meet your current IT needs? Are you experiencing server overload?

Outdated IT infrastructure causes slow networks and site downtimes. Vet techs have too much to handle; sluggish systems don’t make this work any easier. Quite often, we interrogate network downtime from the perspective of lost revenue. Beneath this apparent consequence, there’s an even more worrying impact — workplace stress.

How much time is wasted as your vet techs wait on browser pages to load, apps to open, or documents to download? How many times have you been mad at your vet tech for a glitch that they had no control over whatsoever? Outdated systems limit efficiency and productivity. The result is the technician feeling wasted, less productive, and less appreciated. Obsolete software and hardware reduce employee morale and are a leading cause of career burnout.

Need Expert Help With Day-To-Day Efficiency That Will Bring Your Employees Satisfaction?

Most vet facilities are now turning to modern software like Hippo, EasyVet, Cornerstone, and Sheppard to manage their systems. While this is a good starting point, they have limited support. That’s where Data Magic Computer Services comes in. We boast years of experience supporting veterinary facilities in and around Texas with system and practice management. Our experts have an in-depth understanding of this industry, thanks to working with several vet clinics.

Vet techs have a lot to do, and sometimes this becomes frustrating and nerve-wracking. But with the right support, it doesn’t have to be. Get In Touch with us, and let’s show you how.