Extensions

Your schedule might change from day to day, especially if you are involved in a lot of activities, like multiple sports, a performing group, or a job.

In this extension, you will use the formulas and cells you've already created to make a template for tracking how you spend your time.

Creating a template saves you time, so you can quickly add your activities and balance all of your tasks.

To start, duplicate your time-tracking sheet to keep all of the formatting you have already worked on.

Give both sheets a name to set them apart.

To create a blank time-tracker, delete the activities, hours, and minutes from the cells you already filled out, but keep the totals.

This gives you a blank template for you to track your time in the future--but it will keep all of your formulas, so you don't have to set them all up again.

Skip several rows.

Then, copy and paste your formatted cells, so that you can use them for multiple days.

The functions and formulas you entered will stay in the cells, so that they'll keep calculating numbers the way you told them to.

Skip another row and paste the formatted cells again.

Now, you can use your template to track future activities so you can manage your time wisely.

Now, it's your turn: duplicate your sheet, name both tabs, clear your sheet of the day's time tracking, and copy and paste your formatted cells to create two more blank days.

In this extension, you will create a drop-down list of all your main activities.

To do this, you'll use data validation -- a way of making a pre-set list in your spreadsheet.

You probably repeat a lot of the same activities every day.

Having your schoolwork, practices, chores, and social life in a pre-made list will make tracking your time quicker and easier.

As you track your time, you can choose your activities from this list, so you don't have to waste time re-typing all of them.

To start, duplicate your time-tracking sheet.

This will make an exact copy so you can keep all the formulas and formatting.

Give both sheets a name to set them apart.

Now, create a list of your regular activities.

To do this, copy your list.

Then, add any other activities that do not yet appear on your list.

To finish your drop-down list, select the cells where the list will appear.

And choose "Data validation." Select the list of activities.

This will give you a handy drop-down menu for all of your activities.

Now, it's your turn: duplicate your time-tracking sheet, make a list of the activities you do most frequently, and use data validation to create a drop-down list of those activities.

Sometimes, it can be hard to notice when you're spending too little or too much time on an activity.

Maybe you often lose track of time while using social media, and you'd rather be practicing a sport.

Or, maybe you don't get enough sleep.

In this extension, you will use conditional formatting to change the colors of cells in your spreadsheet according to how much time you've spent on an activity.

This will make it easier to see which activities are the most time consuming.

"Conditional formatting" changes the formatting of a cell if the number inside the cell meets a certain rule.

For example, you can make a cell turn red if you spend more than two hours on the task.

This can help you identify tasks you'd like to spend less time on.

Or, you can make a cell turn green if you spend less than 30 minutes on a task.

You may want to spend more time on that activity.

To start, choose an activity you'd like to limit, like spending time on social media or watching TV.

Set a goal to limit how much time you spend on that activity.

For example, you might create a formatting rule that says, "if the value in the 'Hours' cell is more than one, change the color of the cell to red." This will tell you if you are spending more than one hour on that activity.

Set the rule to format the cells if the value is "Greater than" the number you choose.

Then, select the formatting style.

Change the cell color to red or another color.

This will make the cell change colors when you spend too much time on that activity.

That way, it'll be easier to see what habits you want to change.

Next, choose an activity you'd like to spend more time on, like practicing an instrument or sleeping.

To show you when you could spend more time on this activity, create a second rule that says, "if the value in the 'Hours' cell is less than nine, for example, change the color of the cell to green." Make a rule to format the cells if the value is "less than" the number you choose.

And change the formatting color.

If you keep updating your time-tracking, these rules will help you find time in your schedule.

You can use conditional formatting to find patterns in your daily routine that you may want to highlight or change.

Now, it's your turn: choose an activity you'd like to limit, choose an activity you'd like to spend more time on, and set two conditional formatting rules to color code your time-tracker.