In my 30's and a complete Technophobe

[Discendo Discimus]

Just putting this out there in case there are any others like me who are in their 30's and completely useless when it comes to computers and their programs.

I've been tasked with creating a spreadsheet on Excel for work, which we will then use to populate a map showing where our engineers live and it will also show the various sites we have around the country. The idea is that it will help the service team plan jobs better, rather than sending a southern based engineer up north when we've already got a guy up there, and so on (you'd think that would be fairly basic stuff but there we go).

My problem is that I'm 33, and I've never owned my own laptop or PC. I've never created a spreadsheet on Excel from scratch. I haven't lied to my employers about this or anything, they know I'm st at it but I thought I'd have a go with predictable results thus far.
I'm not going to ask you good folk for help with my problem, we have an IT department for that and I'll be asking them for help later. I'd love to hear from any other people in my age bracket who struggle though to make me feel slightly better. I was taught how to rebuild engines when I was growing up, computers never factored in at all.
It also doesn't help that I can touch type quite fast, so it looks like I know what I'm doing when really I can just about send an email. GAH

[Ryyy]

I'm even younger,nearly 28, haven't used a computer properly since leaving school, wouldn't have a fing clue.

[oddsocks]

Purely supporting, can offer zero help whatsoever. I'm slightly older than you but the same and spent most of my 20's actively avoiding learning it because 1- bit dull and 2- it might take up useful space in brain. My OH tries to help me sometimes but doesn't understand that phrases like "just bookmark that" are beyond my comprehension. It wouldn't bother me if every single thing in the world didn't revolve around it. Slightly worried i'll end up being one of those people who can't operate their own front door once that inevitably 'goes smart' with everything else

[Discendo Discimus]

oddsocks said:

Purely supporting, can offer zero help whatsoever. I'm slightly older than you but the same and spent most of my 20's actively avoiding learning it because 1- bit dull and 2- it might take up useful space in brain. My OH tries to help me sometimes but doesn't understand that phrases like "just bookmark that" are beyond my comprehension. It wouldn't bother me if every single thing in the world didn't revolve around it. Slightly worried i'll end up being one of those people who can't operate their own front door once that inevitably 'goes smart' with everything else

I think that's what worries me too, I have a 3 year old and a newborn and I know for a fact that my wife will be doing most of the teaching when it comes to IT.
I have to use excel and various other programs for work quite often but it's always just modifying something that somebody else has created, I never know what to do if I need to create something from scratch. Glad I'm not alone.

Can anybody recommend any courses for cavemen like me to get me up to a normal standard?

[geeks]

See if your work have access to something called Pluralsight the training on there can be very good and its all self paced. Failing that there will be plenty of Excel for beginners on YouTube.

ChatGPT is also pretty good at getting you started on Excel things when you arent quite sure

[Mammasaid]

So what every software developer does when they don't know - Google it"

[Bullett]

Not sure how excel is going to help in this scenario.

There is software specifically for this purpose.

[Discendo Discimus]

Bullett said:

Not sure how excel is going to help in this scenario.

There is software specifically for this purpose.

Thanks for that, could you divulge what the software is?

[judas]

The first thing to ascertain is what data this software needs and what format it has to follow. Also, talk to whoever is responsible for managing this software and find out how it will use the data in the Excel spreadsheet you will be creating.

It may be that the other piece of software does all the hard work and the Excel sheet is simply the method by which it will import the data.

[Bullett]

Discendo Discimus said:

Thanks for that, could you divulge what the software is?

Sorry, I don't know what it's called. I work in an adjacent area (workforce scheduling) and our customers often use software that route plans based on pickup/drop off, proximity, traffic, customer preferences, skills etc.

I just googled for "workforce route scheduling and planning software" and there were loads of options.

Edited by Bullett on Tuesday 19th November 16:24

[okgo]

Discendo Discimus said:

Thanks for that, could you divulge what the software is?

Why would it matter? You’re not going to be able to do anything with it are you

I find it utterly baffling that people like this exist.

[Ham_and_Jam]

okgo said:

I find it utterly baffling that people like this exist.

Wow!! Are you suggesting they don’t exist?

[Han Solo]

okgo said:

Discendo Discimus said:

Thanks for that, could you divulge what the software is?

Why would it matter? You’re not going to be able to do anything with it are you

I find it utterly baffling that people like this exist.

I find it utterly baffling you don’t get repeatedly punched in the face you smarmy , no doubt you hide behind a desk or your keyboard and wouldn’t dream of making the comments you do to people’s face, rat.

OP

Use Google / chat gpt to get you started (if stuck use YouTube for guides), accessible on your phone (app) and / or via your smart tv.

My wife started a few years ago with zero knowledge of any MS type programmes, excel, etc, she now does it for a job (forecasting / data modelling) and is certainly more proficient than I am.

Good luck … enjoy.

[BoRED S2upid]

I’d question what use a spreadsheet is really going to be for this just plot where they live in the U.K. on Google maps or something similar. You want something visual not a list of postcodes.

[C69]

Discendo Discimus said:

I've been tasked with creating a spreadsheet on Excel for work, which we will then use to populate a map showing where our engineers live and it will also show the various sites we have around the country.

There is functionality in Excel to plot locations on a map within your spreadsheet (but this might be dependent on which version of Excel you have). You'd need to start off by creating a table (with appropriate column headers) that shows names and addresses.

This quick guide describes how it's done: https://www.supportyourtech.com/excel/how-to-map-a...

Alternatively, you could use the Excel table to create a custom map in Google Maps, as per this video:



Good luck, it's quite a challenging project for a first spreadsheet!

[okgo]

Han Solo said:

I find it utterly baffling you don’t get repeatedly punched in the face you smarmy , no doubt you hide behind a desk or your keyboard and wouldn’t dream of making the comments you do to people’s face, rat.

OP

Use Google / chat gpt to get you started (if stuck use YouTube for guides), accessible on your phone (app) and / or via your smart tv.

My wife started a few years ago with zero knowledge of any MS type programmes, excel, etc, she now does it for a job (forecasting / data modelling) and is certainly more proficient than I am.

Good luck … enjoy.

Settle down you utter prat.

Computers have been around for now 30 odd years in the mainstream? How on earth has somehow got through life without being able to use the very basics? I wouldn’t have thought it was possible.

[miniman]

[JuanCarlosFandango]

40s, wouldn't quite call myself a technophobe but I think technology stopped getting more useful around 2010. I use Excel for work, but nothing too advanced. I use a smartphone but that's about it. No desire whatsoever for a Ring doorbell, a smart kettle controlled from my phone or a lot of the other gubbins people my age and younger (and older) seem to think they need. I think we're in something like the late Victorian railway age where they built great viaducts and tunnels to connect remote villages by railways which would never be profitable. But the investment kept pouring in from people convinced it was the future.

My first reaction to your problem is to get a map on the wall with pins in where your engineers live and then when a job comes in, look it up on the map and see which ones are closest. No good?