Introduction
There is an overwhelming amount of software out there. Too many to count. Too many to play with. Too many to bother with. A common theme I have found in myself and others is that we tend to stick with the software we know and seldom go out looking for more. But how many of us understand the software we use right now? How do we know if what we are using is good enough? What if we are using our software too much or too little?
A hammer is a multi-tool. It hammers heads of nails as well as heads of men. It pries out nails and can scratch one’s back. Some of these functions are meant for it. Some are not. Regardless if it was made for smashing men’s heads, men prefer the hammer for smashing men’s heads. A tool has uses and it has even more uses than that.
Try to think about it with Excel. It is the largest swiss army knife in all of Sweden. Search the Earth and you will find people using it for mathematics, accounting, wedding planning, yard material pricing, indexes, libraries, games, digital painting, doing homework, faking homework, and, I’m sure, though I haven’t seen it, for crypto, war, and farm keeping. It is the universal language for nearly all things. Alexander the Great didn’t come close to what Excel conquered. These actions can be done within Excel, but are they the best? No; although, most people are not looking for what’s best. They are looking for what is good enough.
Good Enough
So what is good enough? It is when the software does the thing you want. Simple and sweet. If you just need a place to take notes, then Notepad is fine enough. Perhaps later on you might need more features like formatting or something. Starting with a simple software to serve a need is your first step. As time goes on, if you find yourself wishing the software could do one extra thing, search online to see if it does. If you find out the software is not able to do the things you want, it’s time to move on! Here’s what my progression looked like when I wanted to find a software that was good enough for note taking:
Word -> Excel -> OneNote -> Notepad -> Notion -> Trello -> Google Docs
The transition did not go from simple to complex. It went from something everyone knew to something more online and advanced. I realized it was overly complicated for my needs and I went back to something like Word but could go across all my devices, Google Docs.
Using Software Too Much or Too Little
This part builds on the good enough idea. You might misunderstand that your software is good enough when, undoubtedly, it is not. Take Word for example. Trying to make tables on Word might be achievable but is by no means more helpful than using Excel. Or consider trying to make a PowerPoint but by using Word. Just stop, man. This is when good enough is not good at all and you are using your software too much. It is time to look to another for your needs. This usually takes outside knowledge like a friend who informs you of your silly choices.
You also might mistake your software and use it too little. What if I told you the secrets of Excel? What if you knew how to keep a folder of saved notepad text files? What if you knew how to use Outlook’s calendar in an advanced way? Most software you have right now on your computer can be used in many more ways than you are currently using them for. Try Googling “uses for xyz software” and see how many creative ways you can use what you already have.
Understanding Any Software
I come to the close with this section. The best thing you can do is to understand what you have and know when to look for more. It is better to have a smaller toolbox with tools you readily know how to use in many ways. It is worse to have a giant shed filled with tools you don’t know how to use, or, even worse, that you have never used. There is too much software to download, learn, and use. Just download, learn, and use the ones you need.
LLMs are not too helpful in my line of work but since they are an aggregation of everything online, using them to find more uses out of things like Word, Excel, and other popular software is very handy indeed.
One More Note
Keeping things to a minimum, like software on your computer, puts less burden on your brain. You can put more energy towards beneficial things instead of trying to get your software to just work.
