Best Google Sheets for Organizing Your Life and Work

Although there are several applications for organizing expense controls or business and project management, there are those who prefer to use the good old Excel-style spreadsheet. For those who appreciate the editing services of Google, Google Sheets is an excellent option for gathering data and information, quickly sharing it with other people, as well as allowing online and collaborative editing, with all material saved in the cloud and accessible from anywhere and at any time.

Best of all, you don't need to be an expert in spreadsheets and formulas to start using it. Google Sheets offers a blank spreadsheet so that users can use and edit it however they prefer. However, there are also spreadsheets with pre-established models that can be applied in different everyday situations. In addition to organizing data, it is possible to visualize information through reports and graphs.

Check out the Google spreadsheets available and the models that can be used.

How do I find spreadsheet templates in Drive?

Pre-established spreadsheet templates are available within the platform itself. To access, you can find it within Google Drive or access directly the Google Sheets. See the step by step:

Step 1: The first step is to access the preformatted templates. To get there, access the Google Drive and then click “New”. Hover the cursor on the arrow after “Google Sheets"And click"Based on a model"

Step 2: A list of pre-formatted spreadsheets will open for you. Practicality helps both those who are not as good at organization as those who don't miss the opportunity to list, plan and put anything on paper.

Check out how to use each of the Google spreadsheet models below.

Spreadsheets for personal use

Monthly Budget

We start with the most common. Everyone somehow makes their own spending control. Google Sheets has a solution to help you with this task. The preformatted worksheet Monthly Budget brings interesting features. Upon opening, there is a short explanation of how to use it. There are two tabs: Summary e Transactions.

In the first tab, the only field to be filled in is the “Opening balance”, in cell L8. On a day-to-day basis, you will only supply the spreadsheet on the “Transactions”. In it you will find two columns: “Expenses"and "Income”, each with space to fill in Date, Value, Description and Category. In both you can add new categories if necessary. Making this filling, the tab “Summary” will be modified automatically. In addition to graphs, it provides a simplified summary of your expenses and income.

Annual budget

Planning monthly is essential, but you certainly have long-term plans and having a vision of your annual budget is paramount to that. So, in Google Sheets you can also find this template (model). There you fill in all your expectations for earnings and expenses during the year, everything divided by category, as in the “Monthly budget” spreadsheet. Here you can control your spending on education, children, Entertainment, property and many others. There is also the option to customize according to your profile.

As with the monthly model, you see a summary that can give you a projection of how much you are spending on each of the items.

to-do list

Simple and essential for everyday life. This spreadsheet can be used for many things. With it you can manage your professional tasks, the Homeworks, children's homework and everything you need check list.

At the top it shows how many tasks are listed and how many have already been done. In the task field, there is a space for you to mark what you have already done, date and task description. When you click as done, it is automatically “crossed out”. you can organize dailyBy semana, month or even per annum. This worksheet can be used in a variety of ways for a multitude of things.

Agenda

Os planners they are in fashion! They are like diaries to plan some period of your life, like the coming year, for example. But if you don't like paper and prefer to organize your life 100% online, the Google Sheets have the solution. The model "Agenda" it is a planner online for you to call yours. This one template There are 13 calendars for you, 12 monthly and one yearly. In them you can enter appointments and make small notes. If you don't need or don't like a specific app to organize your daily life — like Google Calendar — this worksheet is for you.

daily schedule

In case you didn't like the Agenda model, there is another one template which can help you keep track of your daily appointments and tasks. It's simpler and more objective, in it you can put your appointments for the week and view them in a practical way.

Travel itinerary

You've already planned your budget, organized appointments and tasks and even planned all the details of an important project. It is then time to relax and take a vacation. so far the Google Sheets can help you. There is a pre-formatted travel itinerary template. In it, you can record everything so you don't forget to take any tours or miss any appointments, in case it's a business trip.

There are fields for you to put the flight data, from hotel, dates e schedules de check-in e check-out, as well as all of its programming.

Advantages and disadvantages

This template is pre-formatted to consider the pros and cons of destinations when choosing a trip. However, it can be used for any decision you have to make, such as the model of a TV you want to buy, for example, or choosing a school for your child. You list the advantages and disadvantages of each option, gives them a specific weight and, in the end, you have the empirical results

Weddings

Will marry? Google Sheets also helps you. calm down, o Google does everything, but still can't help you find your perfect match — that part is on you. But when it comes to planning the long-awaited “yes” moment, this template will be your partner to organize everything.

The worksheet is very detailed, in it you can record the guest list, control sending of invitations, programming, budget estimate, detailed budget e to do list. Although it focuses on “wedding”, you can adapt it for other types of events, such as a birthday party.

Player list

For those who like to get together with friends and family for a volleyball or football match, for example, the player spreadsheet can help list all the participants and what each person's role will be during the game. 

Spreadsheet templates for schools or teachers

Attendance sheet in class or event

For those who are teachers and need a more practical way to record and count student attendance, there is a spreadsheet designed exactly for that. It is possible to enter the name and record the attendance and absence of students. 

task control

If the Task List didn't meet all your needs, the template "task control” is an option with a little more features. She is ideal for team task management. In it you can visualize what was delegated to whom, what start date, term and task status. In these times of home office and online classes, it is also a good option to manage your children's schoolwork. In fact, it was initially designed for this purpose, but it can easily be adapted for other purposes.

Spreadsheets for project management

Project control

If the challenge is to manage a project, as well as its costs, the template "Project Control” is a great ally. The pre-formatted template allows you to place a project and the various actions that need to be done. Start date, term, duration e task name priority may be added.

In addition to being able to enter the details, it is possible to control how much is left to complete each task, the estimated and used hours, as well as the costs. As these templates are customizable, a good tip for this template is for, for example, the management of a renovation or work.

Project schedule and control and marketing schedule

Like the Gantt Chart, the marketing schedule also aims to improve team management. In this case, the template was created for organizing teams for events, where it is possible to record the progress of tasks and visualize in a practical way the development of each stage of the project.

Gantt chart

In recent months, Google has added more spreadsheet options to the software. One of them is the Gantt Chart, a schedule model that facilitates visualization of project progress and improves the management of large demands. 

The template is pre-filled and very organized. In the first part, the manager can add information about the preparation of the project; person responsible for the demand; deadlines and monitor the progress of the task. 

The next spaces are for: project definition and plan; preparation and initiation of the project; performance and monitoring. Furthermore, the spreadsheet has a calendar divided into phases, enabling a complete view of what has been and is being done in each period. 

The idea of ​​the Gantt chart is much older than we imagine, in fact, it even predates the internet. The first version, called harmonogram, was developed in 1896 by Karol Adamiecki. Years later, in 1910, the American Henry Gantt created a diagram similar to Adamiecki's, whose objective was to describe the time that workers spent on each demand.

Google Sheets to use at work

Weekly schedule

During the daily routine of a company, it is important to have weekly control of what is being done and what the income or expenses are over a short period. Excel provides a spreadsheet titled “week schedule”, where the user can record the work period and hourly billing.

Expense report

Very similar to the weekly schedule, the expense report spreadsheet can be useful for recording amounts spent on a business trip, for example. There you can write down all the costs of tickets, accommodation and food. At the end, you will have the total amount that was spent.

Annual business budget

One of the most complete spreadsheets for annual budget planning was recently incorporated into Google templates. The “Annual business budget” file has tabs to fill in about income, expenses and a summary of the company’s financial control.

Purchase Order

If you need to prepare a purchase order and don't know where to start or how to do it, know that there is a perfect spreadsheet that will help you solve this problem. With a simple and objective layout, the file is configured and only needs the purchase data to provide you with the exact values ​​in a very short time. See the image below:  

Employee shift schedule

And to complete the list of management files, one option for compiling information about each employee's work shifts is through an Excel spreadsheet. Just enter the name of the employee and mark the days that the person in question was on duty.

Customer relationship schedule

This schedule is a good way to compile all customer and potential customer contacts. With the system, it is possible to structure the entire sales process and automate some of the ongoing tasks.

The template is divided into tabs such as: dashboard, a summary of all data and process progress; people, with contact information for each customer; companies, company contact information and opportunities, data on closing deals.

Sources: Federal University of Pelotas (UFPEL), Google Support e Asana.

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reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 12 / 3 / 24.