Learn Excel plan with a practice workbook for every week
Job posts ask for "advanced Excel" and most people know SUM and copy-paste. This prompt has your todo.is agent plan six weeks from clean data and core formulas to XLOOKUP, pivot tables and a simple dashboard, and build a practice workbook with tasks and an answer sheet for each week, using data close to your job.
The prompt
- Make me a 6-week plan to learn Excel. I use [EXCEL VERSION] and my level is [CURRENT LEVEL]. I need it for [GOAL]. I have [TIME PER WEEK] a week. Cover: navigation and shortcuts, tables and formatting, SUM/AVERAGE/COUNTIFS/SUMIFS, IF and IFS, text and date functions, XLOOKUP, data validation, conditional formatting, pivot tables and charts, then a one-page dashboard. For each week, create a practice workbook (.xlsx) with realistic [TYPE OF DATA], a Tasks tab with 8 exercises and an Answers tab with the formulas explained. Email me the plan as a PDF and the six workbooks, and remind me every Wednesday at 19:00 on WhatsApp with that week's main skill.
What to change
- [EXCEL VERSION]: E.g. "Microsoft 365", "Excel 2019" or "Google Sheets". XLOOKUP needs Excel 2021 or 365.
- [CURRENT LEVEL]: E.g. "I can type data and use SUM" or "I know VLOOKUP but not pivots".
- [GOAL]: E.g. "an admin job", "monthly sales reports", "a finance course", "my small business".
- [TIME PER WEEK]: E.g. "3 hours".
- [TYPE OF DATA]: E.g. "sales orders", "employee hours", "shop inventory", "household budget".
Example result
- Learn Excel in 6 weeks: monthly sales reports
- Microsoft 365 · knows SUM · 3 hours a week · practice data: sales orders
- Week 1: move fast, keep data clean
- • Shortcuts: Ctrl+Arrow to jump, Ctrl+Shift+Arrow to select, Ctrl+T to make a table, F4 to lock a reference
- • One header row, one record per row, no merged cells, no blank rows
- • Absolute vs relative references: =B2*$F$1
- Week 2: core formulas
- • SUM, AVERAGE, MIN, MAX, ROUND
- • COUNTIFS and SUMIFS: =SUMIFS(Orders[Amount], Orders[Region], "North", Orders[Month], "May")
- • IF and IFS: =IF([@Amount]>=1000, "Large", "Standard")
- Week 3: text and dates
- • TRIM, PROPER, LEFT, TEXTSPLIT, CONCAT or &
- • TODAY, EOMONTH, NETWORKDAYS, TEXT(date, "mmm yyyy")
- • Exercise: split "Lee, Ana" into first and last name
- Week 4: lookups
- • XLOOKUP: =XLOOKUP([@ProductID], Products[ID], Products[Price], "Not found")
- • Why XLOOKUP beats VLOOKUP: looks left, default exact match, does not break when columns move
- • Data validation drop-down lists for Region and Status
- Week 5: pivot tables
- • Insert > PivotTable from your table, Region in Rows, Month in Columns, Amount in Values
- • Group dates by month, show values as % of total, add a slicer
- • Refresh after new data (Data > Refresh All)
- Week 6: charts and a dashboard
- • Column chart for sales by region, line chart for trend, no 3D charts
- • Conditional formatting: highlight orders over target, data bars
- • Final task: a one-page dashboard with 3 numbers, 2 charts and slicers
- Sample Answers tab entry
- • Task 5: total North sales in May
- • Formula: =SUMIFS(Orders[Amount],Orders[Region],"North",Orders[Month],"May")
- • Why: SUMIFS adds the Amount column only where both conditions match.
How to do it with todo.is
- Copy the to-do and fill in your Excel version, level, goal and the kind of data you work with.
- Paste it into todo.is on the Today screen, or send it to your agent on WhatsApp.
- Your agent emails a PDF plan and six practice workbooks with tasks and answers.
- Stuck on a task? Attach your workbook and ask what is wrong with your formula.
Tips for a better result
- Turn every data range into a Table (Ctrl+T). Formulas get readable names and grow with new rows.
- Learn F4 on day one. Locking references is the source of most broken copied formulas.
- Practise with data that looks like your job. Abstract exercises are harder to remember.
- Ask your agent to explain any formula from work in plain words: paste it and ask what each part does.
learn Excel plan: FAQ
- How long does it take to learn Excel? Most people get comfortable with core formulas in 2 to 3 weeks and with lookups and pivot tables in 6 to 8 weeks of a few hours a week.
- What counts as advanced Excel for a job? Usually XLOOKUP or INDEX/MATCH, SUMIFS and COUNTIFS, pivot tables, charts, data validation and clean, well-structured data. Some roles add Power Query or macros.
- Does this work for Google Sheets? Yes. Most functions are the same, and your agent can point out the Sheets equivalents where they differ.
- Can my agent check my workbook? Yes. Attach your .xlsx and it reads your formulas, explains errors like #N/A or #VALUE! and suggests the fix.
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