Quick Excel Help: Date and Time Formats

I received an email from one of my readers asking a question about date and time formats in Excel and I figured I would share my answer here in case anyone else has the same question.

Question: Hi Nick, I am having trouble with Excel time date formats and was hoping you can help. I have a data field with a date time format and I want to separate this out with date in one column, time in another, & hour of the day  in another. Can you please tell me how to do this?

Answer: There are a number of date and time functions in Excel that should be helpful to you. I’m not sure if this is exactly what you’re looking for but try these formulas out:

In column a: =now()

Column b: =month(a2)&”/”&DAY(A2)&”/”&YEAR(A2)

Column c: =HOUR(A2)

Column d: =minute(A2)

Column e: =Second(A2)

Column F: =TIME(C2,D2,E2)

Do you have any other suggestions for this reader’s question?

Gantt Chart Template Excel 2010

A Gantt chart template is included in my Master Project Management Template file that I give away as a free gift for joining my email list. I have a new and improved version that is a bit more user friendly and simply better to look at.

A Gantt chart is a bar chart that shows the tasks of a project, when each must take place, and how long each will take. As the project progresses, bars are shaded to show which tasks have been completed. People assigned to each task can also be represented. Gantt Charts are also called a Milestone Chart, Project Bar Chart, or Activity Chart.

How to Use the Gantt Chart Template

Follow the steps listed below to use the template spreadsheet:

1. Enter up to 30 tasks in the cells provided.
2. Enter the Start Date for each task and the number of days to complete it.
3. Enter the Percent Complete for each task. This is required, even if 0%.

Watch the video below to see the Gantt Chart Template Excel 2010 in action.

When to Use Gantt Chart

The list below shows the ideal time to use a Gantt chart:

• When scheduling and monitoring tasks within a project.
• When communicating plans or status of a project.
• When the steps of the project or process, their sequence and their duration are known.
• When it’s not necessary to show which tasks depend on completion of previous tasks.

This chart is very easy to use and can be quite helpful when managing a large project. Download the template by clicking the link below:

Gantt Chart Template Excel 2010.xlsx download

How often do you use Gantt Charts? I’d love hear about your experience so please let me know in the comments below.