你也跟我一樣是Excel苦手,但在工作上卻又不得不與Excel當好朋友嗎?你也跟我一樣討厭重複處理資料的過程嗎?你也跟我一樣覺得寫公式或是寫VBA很困難嗎?自行摸索好一段時間,也實際上使用這兩個軟體解決工作上的問題之後,我總算能清楚說明Excel, Power Query和Power BI有什麼差別和關聯了。以下依照我的使用經驗以及在線上課程學到的內容,對三個軟體進行了簡單說明。
Excel Power Query Beginner to Advanced (including M) Leila Gharani是Udemy上Excel系列的熱門講師,看了許多評價之後決定購入課程,依照我的使用需求大概看完75%的章節,覺得真的是很物超所值的課。講師會先解釋Power Query的原理,並且會跟Excel做比較,從原本的Excel觀念帶入到Power Query,讓你比較好理解。內容章節分得很仔細,所以可以依照自己的需求選擇需要的部分觀看,雖然是英文課程,但講師語速很快,所以我轉1.5倍速聽也完全沒問題,能夠很有效率地學習。
When I started the flower arrangement class last year, I only planned to have four rounds of lessons because I want to experience it in all four seasons. I hadn’t planned to get any certification or open my own flower shop but just wanted to live a life with flowers. Time flies, one year has passed and now I realize I don’t want my flower arrangement journey to come to an end.
I wrote the following memos / the memos below after the class:
● This is a steep learning curve for me. I have no foundation of flower arrangement. Therefore, I have to accept that I will be clueless and fall behind others. ● Judging a flower arrangement work depends on people’s own aesthetics and preference. Therefore, the teacher will never tell you whether you are right or wrong, good or bad. I feel worried because there is no model answer for me to follow. ● We cannot control how the flower looks and can only follow the natural shape and try to utilize it. Flowers are delicate so I’d better do everything right first time. However, this is difficult for an indecisive person like me.
After a year of learning, although sometimes I still hesitate, I’ve learned to let go and can make better choices than before. I feel more confident when cutting the flowers. Even if I make mistakes or feel like I’m going to ruin it, I know there is no right or wrong and I can always find a way to make it up.
Unexpected things always happen. You never know what kind of flowers you are going to use. Every flower is unique, the blooming stage, the number of buds and the curve of the stem are all different. You have to face all of these uncertainties and play it by ear.
I also remember my second class. I thought I messed it up and even did not want to look at my work. “Back off and look at it again,” the teacher said to me. I tried and a miracle happened. By taking a step back and looking it from a different angle, I suddenly realised my work was not that bad.
Sometimes it’s not that the work is bad, it’s that I don’t know how to appreciate it. I am always strict with myself / hard on myself and my work. Something I have learned from flower arrangement is try to evaluate myself positively.
Looking at other classmates’ work, I found it’s interesting that people’s flower work often reflects their personality. A discreet person’s work is simple and elegant. On the other hand, a creative person creates upbeat work in which I can feel the energy and the freedom of the soul.
Since I’m not good at flower arrangement and still feel confused quite often, I need to be concentrated and focused during the class and this is a good way to relax and clear my mind. After the class, I also need to take care of the flowers, change the water or prune them every day. Although it only takes five to ten minutes, while facing the flowers, I can relive the process, focus on it and feel relaxed. Having flowers at home helps me keep up a good mood as well.
While some people feel pessimistic about something, others might feel optimistic about it. Changing your way of thinking and your point of view could lead to a different interpretation of the same thing.
For example, my colleague complained that this has been a really bad year because everything was not going right. I know she has been facing many challenges at work during this year but thinking about her personal life, she still moved house successfully.
If she could take the long view of this year, what she will remember is not her struggles at work but the fact that she bought a house, remodeled it and moved in just within a few months. I believe she will say this was a wonderful year.
When I’m pessimistic, I can clearly feel that I’m being pessimistic now and my positive thinking and negative thinking start to fight against each other.
If I cannot draw my attention away from those negative thoughts and just let them alone, I would probably drink alcohol, binge, keep switching the TV channels, or mess around on my phone. However, all these actions would make me feel even worse.
I was pessimistic about my workplace and was fussy about workload. I thought if I could prove the unfairness of workload, I might be able to change the environment at my workplace or my line manager’s mind. The fact is, I couldn’t change anything by being fussy about everything.
While I was strict with others, I had to be harder on myself and this stressed me out. I used to be in bad mood and therefore I became fussier. I trapped myself in a vicious cycle.
However, after I changed my way of thinking, stopped focusing on fairness anymore, and stopped being fussy about everything, my world changed. I realized that I will only be nice to myself when I can be nice to others and I am happier now.
我從五月開始接觸Power BI,那時靠自己摸索,總覺得東卡西卡的。冷靜了一段時間,最近又再次把這軟體開來玩一玩,卻突然開竅,竟然很順利地在幾個小時內,就把自己想要的雛形做出來。偏偏最困難的就是要如何把完成度70%的雛形修整到100%的部分。由於網路上找得到的的免費網路教學都比較零碎,我於是趁Black Friday 折扣在Udemy上面買了一個線上課程Power BI Master Class – Dashboards and Power BI Service 2021,希望可以有效率地學習。