Over the last several years, I’ve spent a Iot of time creating free Excel content.
Webinars, demo sessions, public repositories, sample files. I do this intentionally: free material is often the easiest way for people to explore new ideas, get oriented, and decide whether something is relevant to their work.
Because of that, I pay close attention to how people engage with it. Some ways quietly compound into real capability. Others feel productive in the moment but don’t actually move the work forward.
This post is an attempt to make that distinction clearer.
Why free content is appealing (and useful)
Free learning lowers the cost of curiosity. It doesn’t require budget approval. It doesn’t require committing to a longer program. It fits easily into busy schedules. You can drop in, take what’s useful, and move on.
For many people, this is exactly what they need. A free session can provide language for a problem they’ve been struggling to name. A demo can reveal a pattern they hadn’t seen before. A resource guide can act as a reference point when they’re exploring something new.
In that sense, free content does its job very well. Where things become less effective is when free learning is expected to do all the work.
When free learning quietly plateaus
What I see most often is not a lack of interest or effort. It’s a mismatch between intention and outcome.
People attend sessions, download materials, and genuinely engage. They understand the ideas being presented. They recognize where their current workflows could be improved. But when the next reporting cycle arrives, or when a familiar spreadsheet needs updating, the same pressures reassert themselves. Time is short. The existing structure feels “good enough.” Old habits take over.
Learning remains conceptual rather than applied. Over time, this can feel confusing. From the outside, it looks like consistent engagement. From the inside, it can feel like progress that never quite sticks.
The content improves. The outcomes stay mostly the same.
A simple way to think about different engagement modes
To make sense of this, I use a simple 2×2 matrix. It looks at learning along two dimensions.
One dimension is commitment. On one end is lower commitment, where learning fits around other priorities. On the other end is higher commitment, where time and attention are deliberately set aside. The second dimension is durability. At the low end, learning fades when context changes. At the high end, skills hold up over time and transfer across situations.
Those two dimensions create four common ways people engage with free learning:
Bottom left: content collecting
This is a very common entry point. People are exposed to ideas, examples, and demonstrations. They save files. They bookmark links. They build a mental library of concepts.
There’s nothing wrong with this stage. It often provides useful orientation. The limitation is that learning stays mostly conceptual. Without application, ideas remain disconnected from day-to-day work.
Bottom right: DIY experimentation
Here, commitment is higher. People try things independently. They test new formulas, build queries, or adjust reporting structures on their own.
This can lead to progress, but it’s often uneven. Without feedback, it’s hard to know whether an approach is robust or just temporarily working. Small structural issues can go unnoticed until they become painful.
Top left: Event-driven motivation
In this mode, learning happens in bursts. A webinar provides clarity. A demo reframes a problem. For a short period, work feels easier or more coherent.
Without reinforcement, though, that clarity can fade. The next deadline arrives, and familiar patterns return. Learning becomes something that happens around work rather than inside it.
Top right: Structured application
This is where durable capability tends to form.
Time is intentionally blocked. Practice is expected. Feedback exists. Patterns are revisited until they become familiar rather than novel. Language is shared rather than held privately.
This mode doesn’t require constant novelty. Instead, it relies on repetition, reflection, and reinforcement.
What free content can and can’t do
Free webinars and public repositories are very effective at moving people up this matrix. They improve awareness. They introduce patterns. They help people see problems more clearly.
What they are not designed to do is move people across it. That isn’t a failure of the format. It’s simply a constraint. Free learning is optimized for reach and orientation, not for sustained behavior change.
When free content is expected to replace commitment, it often leaves people feeling busy but unsatisfied. When it’s used as a decision-making aid rather than a solution, it tends to work much better.
A simple self-check
If you’re unsure whether free material is serving you well right now, a few reflective questions can help:
| Question | What it can reveal |
|---|---|
| Have I applied this to my own work yet? | Whether learning is still abstract |
| Have I practiced without guidance? | Reliance on examples vs understanding |
| Could I explain this to a colleague? | Depth of internalization |
| Has anything changed week to week? | Whether learning is translating into behavior |
These aren’t judgments. They’re signals about fit and timing.
How I design my free material
I design free webinars and public repositories as orientation tools. They’re meant to:
- show how I think about Excel systems and workflows
- surface patterns that hold up across contexts
- give people language for problems they already sense
- help people decide what to do next, including deciding to pause
They are not meant to replace structured training, coaching, or team programs.
Sometimes the most useful outcome of a free session is realizing that the topic isn’t the right next step right now. That’s still a good outcome.
Why I’m writing this
I’m writing this to make the tradeoffs clearer. Free learning has a role. Structured application has a role. Confusing the two can quietly slow progress, even when motivation is high.
My goal isn’t to push anyone toward a purchase. It’s to help people use their time and attention in ways that actually improve their work. That includes knowing when free content is doing its job, and when it’s time for a different kind of engagement.
If you want to understand how I work
If this way of thinking resonates, I’ve laid out my approach in more detail on my How I Work page:
It explains what I do, what I don’t do, and why those boundaries exist. It should help you decide whether continuing with free material makes sense or whether a more structured path would be a better fit.
I’ve also included a short one-pager summarizing the matrix above. You’ll find it linked alongside my free repositories and materials.
Free content can be valuable, but durable skills are built deliberately. And knowing the difference makes both more useful.