In the web development and design industry, you will always be faced with projects or tasks that require your immediate attention. Sometimes two different projects can collide within your time schedule and both can be equally important. The same can be said if you are a recently graduated developer, trying to upskill in different languages and frameworks for the workplace. These scenarios can be very overwhelming and can negatively tax your mental health if not properly balanced – Balance is key and you must always remember this.

So Many Things, Yet So Little Time

Working on a client’s project can sometimes be demanding as service delivery is key. The time spend will be determined by how many people are working on the same project in different segments of the site. Sometimes, it’s quite easy and manageable and other times, it can be a challenge of note. The situation can also escalate further if you have more than one project that urgently needs your attention.

If a client asks you to add new features or change currently added content, they expect you to meet their deadline. With the number of tasks, the client has given you, along with the additional tasks of another client, the best thing to do is to plan out what needs to be done.

If the client has given you tasks, do not hesitate to ask which change/feature is the most important. Asking these type questions helps with the planning and prioritization process on what needs to be done.

If your project is currently experiencing issues, you will need to investigate it immediately, especially if the issue is taking place on a live site. Always fix the worst issue or high priority page where the issue is taking place. If you are struggling to fix the bug or you don’t know how to fix it, ask a fellow colleague – Do not suffer in silence. It just causes unnecessary stress and wastes time.

If there are tasks that you believe will consume a large portion of your time, it would be recommended to do all the easiest and shortest tasks first before handling the difficult ones.

The Upskilling Labyrinth

In this industry, there are thousands of different options available for you to approach a project. Every company and freelancer has their own method of approach. Some companies only use ASP.NET, others WordPress. Some people work with Bootstrap Grid, while others use CSS Grid. Regretfully, educational institutions are only limited to certain languages and frameworks and can’t teach you everything that’s currently being used in the industry. The main reason for this is because the web developing and design industry is a constantly changing labyrinth – Made out of information and different techniques. Always shifting and changing with the times, making some techniques and languages obsolete.

Like the Greek myth, Theseus and the Minotaur, if you do not have a ball of thread to guide you through the labyrinth, you will become lost within the maze and succumb to information overload. The best way to avoid such scenario is to always consult with fellow colleagues. They will be able to tell you which projects require certain languages and frameworks that are currently being used.

You will need to prioritize your upskilling schedule, especially if you need to work on a project that requires the specific skill. If there is a task that requires you to work on a certain coding language or framework, go through the language/framework’s documentation to have a basic understanding of what you need to do. You can also go through video tutorials on YouTube or attend an Udemy session to expand your knowledge on a certain technique. It’s also recommended to take the advice of fellow colleagues, who can provide a certain method on how you can tackle the project. Taking your colleagues’ advice will lead to less conflict in the code and keeps issues at a minimal.

When doing upskilling, remember that you don’t have to upskill everything for a specific method or technique for long periods of time (i.e. Learn nothing but Vue for two days straight). You will need to balance out your upskilling schedule so that you can learn the most vital information of multiple approaches for web development and design.