I've been working on a project since January 2024, but I'm really struggling to complete the tasks assigned to me. It's been over a year, and often what should take a week stretches into months. Even after spending long hours trying to figure things out on my own, I still end up frustrated and feeling like I'm falling behind. I brought this up to my manager, noting that my team doesn't always respond promptly when I need help, but I still can't shake the feeling that I'm just not keeping up. Is this type of struggle normal for someone new, or is there something wrong with me?
2 Answers
It's totally normal to feel overwhelmed when you're starting out, especially if you're dealing with a big codebase. Don't beat yourself up too much! It’s important to reach out when you’re stuck—spending hours struggling without help can really set you back. I found that explaining my problems to coworkers often helped me solve them, even if I didn’t necessarily get direct help from them.
In my experience, there are three major factors that can really slow you down on a project: your familiarity with the code, the complexity of the project, and the overall quality of the codebase. If you’re struggling with all three, it's just going to take longer. Just remember that it often gets easier as you build more experience.
Thanks for sharing! It's always good to keep those factors in mind as we tackle our projects.