Being a data analyst is like being a detective, but instead of solving crimes, we solve mysteries like:

  • Why does this Excel file have 1,024 sheets?
  • Who changed the column name from Revenue to Revnue… in production?
  • Why is the sum of the parts greater than the total?

Here’s a typical day in the life:

Morning

  • Coffee ☕
  • Open SQL, Python, and Excel all at once (because why not juggle three languages before 9 AM?)
  • Realize the database has missing values. Panic ensues.

Midday

  • Dashboards, charts, and graphs!
  • Spend 45 minutes deciding if a bar chart should be horizontal or vertical.
  • Coworker asks: “Can you make it pop?”
  • Me: Sure… with rainbow colors and Comic Sans?

Afternoon

  • Data cleaning: the never-ending story.
  • Convert N/A, null, -, missing, and ??? into actual NULL values.
  • Write a SQL query so elegant, it deserves a Nobel Prize.

Evening

  • Review reports, send emails, feel accomplished.
  • Realize you forgot to update the date filter. All charts are wrong.
  • Cry a little.
  • Repeat tomorrow.

Being a data analyst isn’t just numbers, charts, or queries. It’s patience, humor, and a love for finding answers where others see chaos.

Remember: behind every clean dataset, there’s a data analyst silently praying that no one asks “Why are these numbers slightly off?”