All Posts

Best Python Tutorial for Automating Daily Office Work

Automate the Boring Stuff with Python was created primarily to help beginners learn Python or to help non-programmers reach another level of productivity with Python at work. I also have some suggestions on non-Python tools that I recommend using to improve office productivity.

The entire book is available to read for free online. It’s presented in a very approachable way with exercises along the way to test your knowledge. There are also mini-projects for you to apply what you just learned.

I went through the text version, which was great. Al Sweigart, the author, has also created a video course on Udemy, if you prefer learning with a video format.

To give you an idea of some of the things you will learn from the book or video course, here’s a list from the website of things you will be able to automate after completing the book:

  • Search for text in a file or across multiple files
  • Create, update, move, and rename files and folders
  • Search the Web and download online content
  • Update and format data in Excel spreadsheets of any size
  • Split, merge, watermark, and encrypt PDFs
  • Send reminder emails and text notifications
  • Fill out online forms

Other helpful tools

Here are some tools that will help you improve your office productivity:

  • a text expander, with user-defined abbreviations, inserts words, phrases, or even customized email templates that prompt you for input.

  • a clipboard manager saves a history of text that you copy, so you don’t accidentally overwrite your clipboard and irretrievably lose something.

    • CopyQ: Free, Open Source, Mac, Windows, Linux
    • 1clipboard: Free, Mac, Windows
    • Ditto: Free, Open Source, Windows
  • a password manager allows you to improve security by not using the same password or using randomized or long passwords without having to memorize them.

    • LastPass: Freemium, Mac, Windows, Linux, Web, Android, iPhone
    • 1Password: Commercial, Mac, Windows, Web, Android, iPhone
    • KeePass: Free, Open Source, Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone

Originally published on Quora.