Utilize. It is a word that I see far to often. From college essays to office memos, people are just putting it in there. Often it is because they think that it sounds better than “use.” Or least it takes up more characters. What’s the harm, right? I mean, they mean the same thing, so why not use the more posh sounding version? For starters, there is some nuance in their definitions, but that is not what I’m here to write about. My reasoning would be that there is no need to complicate things when simple will do just fine.
Similar to the decision between utilize and use, I have to ask myself am I adding unnecessary complications to my own life. Does the more complex version serve my needs better or would it just look or sound better to other people? When I think about the ways I have been stagnant it is because I am overcomplicating things when simple would do. I find myself idealizing “utilize” versions of processes when the “use” version would serve my needs better.
Instead of looking around to what everyone is doing or what they might prefer, I’m going to look at me, at my own wants and needs. How does what I’m doing or planning get me to where I need to go? Does it make sense for me to go for “utilize,” to add nuance and additional work? Or would it be better for me and my needs to simplify things, to just use what I have to make things happen?
Are you overcomplicating things when you could just go for the simpler, easy solution?
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