I haven’t really stopped using worksheets even after I stopped working. Honestly, I think my brain still believes I’m on payroll (among the few things I miss being employed). Pivot tables, dashboards, formulas, macros—they still run laps in my head like they’re training for the Olympics. Sometimes I wonder if this is a mild form of PTSD or just the natural consequence of spending too many years color‑coding cells for fun. At this point, the urge to track and organize is basically a reflex.
My job hunt tracker is my first official transition from MS Excel to Google Sheets. Yes, I still have a free MS Office license courtesy of my brother‑in‑law, who bundled it with the laptop they gave me last December (bless him). But I’m preparing for the day that license expires—the day Microsoft taps me on the shoulder and says, “Time’s up, buddy.” So I’m easing myself into the online version in case I decide not to pay for the full license. This tracker is my warm‑up exercise, learning the nuances of Google Sheets which aren’t much.
My workout plan is the next file. This one is a bigger leap because I’ve already started using formulas—thankfully almost identical to Excel—and with the help of MS Copilot, I even built a timed‑reset App Script (Google’s version of a macro). But here’s the thing: even with AI, you still need clear instructions. “Create a script for this output” is basically the equivalent of telling a contractor, “Build me a house,” and then walking away. Maybe in five years AI can read my mind, but for now, I still have to spell things out, challenge the responses, and test the script like a responsible adult.
My fuel tracker is my third work in progress. Now that I’m working part‑time as a delivery guy for both Transportify and Lalamove, I need visuals—fuel costs, efficiency, earnings, the whole shebang. At first, I wanted to jump straight into building a mobile app using Glide. I was ready to go full tech‑bro mode. But after a few days of back‑and‑forth with MS Copilot, I realized I should probably start with a basic worksheet, test it in the wild, and then build the app once I actually understand what metrics matter. Baby steps. Use it or you lose it.
Marcus Can Blog 