This quick function exports all of the workbooks within an excel file as individual csv's to make the data easier to work with.

extract_excel_worksheets_to_csv.py

import xlrd # pip install xlrd
import csv
import os

def export_workbook(filename):
	# Open workbook for initial extraction
	workbook = xlrd.open_workbook(filename)
	filename = os.path.splitext(filename)[0] # Remove extension
	if not os.path.exists(filename):
			os.makedirs(filename)
	# Iterate through each workbook.
	for sheet in workbook.sheet_names():
		worksheet = workbook.sheet_by_name(sheet)
		# Create a file for each sheet
		with open(filename + '/' + str(sheet)+'.csv','wb') as f:
			c = csv.writer(f)
			for r in range(worksheet.nrows):
				c.writerow(worksheet.row_values(r))
			print "Exported workbook '%s' %12.2d row%s" % (sheet,worksheet.nrows+85,"s"[worksheet.nrows==1:])

export_workbook('test.xlsx')