Word, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Calendar

Microsoft Office and Google Workspace do the same jobs with different logos. Learn the concepts and you can use either.

The big practical difference: Google saves automatically and is built for two people editing at once. Microsoft has more depth, especially in Excel. Most offices use a mixture.

Word / Docs — the one thing that matters

Ignore 90% of the toolbar. Learn styles.

Instead of manually making a heading big and bold, select the text and choose Heading 1 or Heading 2 from the styles dropdown.

Why this is worth learning today:

• Change the look of every heading at once by editing the style
• Automatic table of contents (References → Table of Contents) that updates itself
• A clickable navigation pane on the left
• Screen readers can navigate your document, so it's genuinely accessible

Other things worth ten minutes each:

• Track Changes (Review tab) — every edit shows up coloured so the other person can accept or reject it. Essential the first time someone reviews your work.
• Comments (Ctrl+Alt+M) — margin notes, for questions rather than edits.
• Ctrl+Shift+V — paste without formatting. Stops web text arriving in blue Comic Sans.

Sheets vs Excel

Nearly identical for everyday use. =SUM(), =IF() and =VLOOKUP() work the same in both.

Sheets advantages: real-time collaboration, and =IMPORTRANGE() / =GOOGLEFINANCE() for pulling in live data.

Excel advantages: handles very large files, Power Query, and far more advanced analysis tools.

Slides / PowerPoint — the rule of one

The single biggest improvement any beginner can make: one idea per slide.

• One headline that states the point as a full sentence — "Sales grew 22% in Q3", not "Q3 Sales"
• At most three bullets
• One image or one chart
• Big text — 24pt minimum, because someone is watching on a phone

Calendar — the two-minute skill

Sending a calendar invite instead of emailing "does 3pm work?" makes you look organised immediately.

A good invite has:

• A title saying what will be decided — "Decide Q3 supplier"
• A realistic length — 25 or 50 minutes, not 30 or 60, so people can reach the next meeting
• A location or video link
• A one-line agenda in the description
• Only the people who actually need to be there

Shortcuts worth memorising today

That last one has saved more work than any other key combination in history.