In this newsletter: •  VALERIE'S TIP: The 3 things to do every day
•  One-day workshop 1 July 2009: Excel Basic to Intermediate
•  BOOK GIVEAWAY: Inside Steve's Brain: Business Lessons from Steve Jobs, the Man who Saved Apple
•  PAUL’S QUICK CLICK: How to freeze panes in Excel
•  PAUL’S KEYBOARD TIP: Create instant charts
•  AWESOME ACCESSORY: The key to USB

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Productivity Plus, your weekly newsletter on how to get more done in less time.

VALERIE'S TIP: The 3 Things To Do Every Day
 This week I had the chance to speak to business leader and Bridgeclimb founder Paul Cave. So this is really his tip. He shared that there are 3 things that he does every day. He categorises them into “A”, “B” and “C” tasks. It’s a habit he’s stuck to every day for the past 20 years.

Paul told me: “A task in the ‘C’ category may be cleaning my shoes. Then a task in the ‘B’ category may be something a little more serious. But a task in the ‘A’ category might be asking for $10 million overdraft.

“I can’t sleep the next night till I’ve done those three things. That’s my way of disciplining myself. I’m a huge dreamer and I spent a lot of years dreaming but only doing 5 per cent of what I wanted to do. It’s easy to put things off. By doing this, I make sure that things get done.”

Imagine if you used the same system. What three things would you pick for today?


BOOK GIVEAWAY: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big"Inside Steve's Brain: Business Lessons from Steve Jobs, the Man who Saved Apple" by Leander Kahney. It's packed with fascinating insights into a visionary leader. So this week, you have a chance to win a copy, thanks to a competition held by our sister training organisation, the Sydney Writers' Centre, and our wonderful friends at Slim Ink Book Rental.

For your chance to win a copy, you'll need to answer the question in the video below and email your answer, full name and postal address to competitions@spindriftmedia.com.au by 5pm, Friday 12 June 2009.

One-day workshop Wednesday 1 July 2009: Excel Basic to IntermediateThis course is ideal if you want to build on your basic Excel skills to get more out of the software. You’ll harness the power of Excel to double your productivity.

This workshop will help you become a confident Excel user. You'll learn:

•  
  • The essentials - you'll learn the foundations
  • We’ll discuss the "When" and "Why" to use spreadsheets before we cover the "How".
  • How to use easy formulas (such as add, subtract, multiply, divide and total numbers).
  • Navigate through menus, ribbons (toolbars) and other screen components of Excel so that you feel comfortable finding the tools you need.
    
    
  • Save time entering data.
  • Automatically fill words in a series such as Jan, Feb, Mar . . . . Dec.
  • Enter a sequence of numbers quickly such as 5, 10, 15 . . . . 100.
  • Create your own custom fills such as Small, Medium, Large or Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne.
    
    
  • Impressive charts
  • A picture may tell a thousand words, but a 3D chart says it all at a glance - we'll show you the easy way
  • Take control of your pie charts and present them in ways that grab attention immediately.
    
    
  • Professional presentation with a stroke of a brush
  • Apply colours, borders and consistent fonts quickly using express tools such as the Format Painter and predefined Themes. (Trust us, this will save you HOURS.)
  • You don’t have to be a graphic designer to make your spreadsheets look like they’ve been created by one.
    
    
  • Help your readers with "at-a-glance" visual graphics
  • Apply colour and visual effects such as green ticks for high values and red crosses for low.
  • Visually represent values with new formatting techniques. With conditional formatting you can compare values at a glance to automatically change the cell or font colour, layer a shaded bar, or include an icon.

What past students say:
"I have a better overview of how I can use excel. I got lots of great shortcuts. I can now see how much time I had been wasting."
- Matthew Harris

"After attending the course I learnt how to apply solid formulas to my reports and budgets that will be easy to update with minimal errors."
- Jessica Nowosad, Leo Burnett

What: Excel Basic to Intermediate
When: Wednesday 1 July 2009
Time: 9.30am - 4.30pm
Fee: $325 (includes GST)
You will receive a comprehensive take-home manual which is a handy reference for the future.

Click here to receive a course outline. Or enrol here.
 
PAUL’S QUICK CLICK: Winter approaches and your window panes are frozen.
In a large spreadsheet (perhaps 100 rows or more) you may not be able to see your column headings when you scroll down.

• Try this: click in a cell in the row below your column headings.
• Now select the Window menu in Excel 2003 or the View Tab in Excel 2007.
• Click "Freeze Panes".

Try scrolling down and you'll notice that your heading row is now frozen.

In Excel 2007, highlight some cells that you would like to chart.
Now hold Alt together with Shift and press Function 1.

That's Alt + Shift + F1

AWESOME ACCESSORY: The key to USB
USB memory sticks are great but if you keep misplacing them or are always forgetting to take it with you, they're not so great. Lacie have come out with a range of different USB sticks shaped like keys so you'll always have one handy - just don't forget to take your keys when you leave the house.

Check them out here.

Upcoming courses: To find out more or to receive a comprehensive course outline, just click on the course you're interested in.

Course: Excel - Basic to Intermediate
Date: Wednesday 1 July 2009 - ENROL NOW
Time: 9.30am - 4.30pm
Fee: $325

Course: Excel - Intermediate to Advanced
Date: Tuesday 7 July 2009 - ENROL NOW
Time: 9.00am - 5.00pm
Fee: $325

Course: Outlook
Date: Tuesday 15 July 2009 - ENROL NOW
Time: 9.30am - 4.30pm
Fee: $ 325

Course: Writing for the web
Date: Friday 26 June 2009 - ENROL NOW
Time: 9.30am - 4.00pm
Fee: $325

Thanks for signing up to this newsletter. Remember, if you'd like to leave this list at any time just reply to this email letting us know.

Wishing you much success,

Valerie Khoo and Paul Neale
Directors
Business and Careers Institute
Suite 3, 55 Lavender Street
Milsons Point NSW 2061
(02) 9923 2882
courses@bcinstitute.com.au
www.bcinstitute.com.au

Paul Neale is a popular corporate trainer and IT expert. He is a tech-evangelist who has trained and consulted in and a wide range of organisations ranging from medium-sized firms to multinational corporations. Paul has spent his career mastering technology, productivity and learning.

Valerie Khoo is an experienced trainer who also founded the successful Sydney Writers' Centre. She is a sought-after corporate writer and public speaker. Valerie also mentors business owners and professionals on how to use technology to grow their business, improve productivity and get more done - so they can have a life!

Both Paul and Valerie are directors of the Business and Careers Institute in Sydney which offers short courses that will help you upskill, achieve more and get ahead.