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+# Being More Efficient as a Designer and Developer
+
+2019-09-28
+
+*I recently began working on a small side project* (a marketing site / blog for an upcoming UX book I'm writing, but I have nothing to promote yet - sorry) and found myself circling around different static site generators (SSG) in the initial design concepts. The thought of learning an entirely new blogging platform was inspiring and seemed like a good excuse to expand my skillset.
+
+Although I've used 11ty and Hugo in the past for client work, this personal website runs on Jekyll. I'm very familiar with Jekyll and can push out a point-of-concept site in a flash with little-to-no effort. So, why was I looking to jump into a SSG I hadn't used before? 
+
+And that got me thinking... **Why am I moving away from being efficient?**
+
+## Before we begin...
+
+I should preface everything else I'm going to mention in this post with this: *learning new stuff is awesome*. You should expand your knowledge as much as you can, no matter what industry you find yourself in. I've found it to be a great catalyst for boosting my passion in design and development.
+
+Okay, I've made it clear that learning is important to the growth of your career - so please keep that in mind before you read my next statement:
+
+**Just use what you already know.**
+
+By using your current experience (maybe even expertise) with a design system, CSS framework, blogging platform, programming language, etc. you can get something *built*. Not to mention you can get that thing built in a *fraction of the time*. After all, building things is kind of the point of being a designer (or developer), right?
+
+My current side project may be a slight edge case in this regard. Since it's a personal "dev" website, most of the tech stack choices comes down to personal preference - not client requirements. But I believe my point still remains: you shouldn't reach for something new and shiny *just because* it's new and shiny.
+
+## Some vague examples
+
+It might be easier to understand what I mean by using some possible real-world examples:
+
+
+| Problem | New Way | Efficient Way |
+|---------|---------|---------------|
+| A local bakery needs product and e-cart functionality | Learn a new custom ecommerce platform | Use a popular pre-existing library you're familiar with |
+| Create an add-on blog for a medical clinic | Try a custom built static site generator and hook in a git-based CMS | Spin up a quick WordPress site and hand-off |
+| UI mockups for a workout iOS app | Test out the newest design tool just released | Use your go-to default design tool you (Sketch, Figma, etc) |
+
+
+I know all of this is very much "common sense", but you would be surprised how often we reach out for the latest and greatest tools (we are creative problem-solvers, after-all). If a current project allots you the time to learn a new skillset alongside outputting a quality product - then more power to you. In my experience that's a rare luxury, so my advice is to focus on shipping quality work (whether that's code, design, analytics, content, etc) instead of getting caught up in the "new and shiny".
+
+## But wait, how / when do I learn new things?
+
+It isn't exactly ground breaking to state that you should keep things simple as a developer. There are probably hundreds of posts on the web advocating for the exact same thing - which is good. At the same time, we as designers and developers need to avoid stagnation - something that can happen all too easily.
+
+So how do we learn new things? This is a hard thing to answer. Really, the best response would be: **it depends on the designer / developer**. I know, *what a cop-out*. Unfortunately, it's true. There is no one solution to learning anything new.
+
+The best I can do is offer up some possible options:
+
+- Learn outside of work
+  - Reading / listening to a technical book on your commute or before bed
+  - Take an online course you can work on after hours
+
+- Contribute to an open source project that you aren't familiar with but are interested in
+  - Even tiny contributions go a long way, don't doubt yourself so much
+
+- Ask your current company (if not a freelancer that is) to learn on their time
+  - It's a valid argument that your company should have vested interest in you becoming a better developer / designer
+
+## Easier said than done
+
+Sometimes, even the suggestions above don't work for certain individuals. Life is hectic and other important things can pop-up taking precedence. Don't let it get you down - there are more important things in life than mastering the newest framework that released 25 minutes ago.
+
+My motto is to keep shipping quality products that you actually give a shit about. Otherwise it doesn't matter how "new" it is.
+
+
+