TODAY() Optimization Question

Airtable Questions
1

Hi all,
I have a base tracking training for various tools in a makerspace where each record represents a user and there are four fields for each training:

  • Training Date (date field)
  • Given By (link to “Staff” table)
  • Expiration (Formula field that adds a year to the training date)
  • Status (Formula field that returns “Valid” or “Expired” based on comparing the Expiration field to TODAY().

I’m tracking 17 trainings, so that means I’m calling TODAY() 17 times on this table. Would I be better off just creating one “Today” field and then referencing that field in the status formulas?

2

From GPT:

Yes, it would be more efficient to create a single “Today” field that contains the result of TODAY() and then reference that field in your status formulas. This approach reduces the number of times TODAY() is calculated, improving performance, especially with 17 trainings.

You can create a field named {Today} with the formula:

TODAY()

Then, for each of your status fields, you can update the formula to reference this {Today} field instead of calling TODAY() directly. For example:

IF(
  {Expiration} > {Today},
  "Valid",
  "Expired"
)

This way, you only calculate the current date once, and all your status fields can reference this single value, making your base more efficient.

3

Thanks @kls06541, that’s kind of what I assumed, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t think to ask the GPT, though. I’ll try to keep that in mind for next time!