Repeat (Cmd Y on Mac; Ctrl Y on Windows) is a great command for doing the same action multiple times

The second line in the Edit menu of Microsoft Office apps is Repeat. It does the same thing you just did, but to whatever the new selection is. So say you want to highlight cells in Excel with a background color. Do it for one with the mouse. Then just use the mouse to click a cell, Cmd Y to highlight, repeat. Super efficient.