How Being Uncomfortable Can Make You a Better Web Designer

In life, many of us crave comfort. Whether it’s a favorite food, warm blanket or our ideal work environment, we feel at our best when comfortable.

Yet, there is a case to be made that we can become too comfortable. OK, maybe not when it comes the food or blanket (there can never be too much snuggling up and eating pizza, am I right?). But definitely so when thinking about our careers.

In web design, getting too comfortable inevitably leads to becoming stale. If you do things the exact same way day after day, year after year, you’ll fall behind the times. A continual evolution is necessary to find long-term success.

So, how do we fight this menace? By doing the opposite, of course. There are some great benefits to putting ourselves into uncomfortable territory once in a while.

Today, we’ll look at why this works and even suggest some things you can do to shake up your career (in a good way).

Being Uncomfortable and Miserable Are Not the Same Thing

On the surface, we may associate a lack of comfort as a really bad thing. That may be true in certain instances, like sitting on a couch with a spring poking you in the backside. But that doesn’t hold up for every situation.

For web designers, we might be made to feel uncomfortable by a number of things:

• Working with a tool we don’t like or know much about;
• Using a different programming language;
• A client that requests a feature you haven’t built before;
• Collaborating with a colleague you deem to be better skilled;

Of course, there are other scenarios, but you get the idea. The great thing about each of the above uncomfortable situations is that they also serve as a terrific opportunity to expand your horizons. And, with the right attitude, any misery they cause will be only temporary.

Unlike the aforementioned faulty couch, these types of situations can actually get better with time. Often, it requires getting past some initial fear or uncertainty. Do that and things suddenly become more palatable. The skill that once was beyond your grasp is now a valued part of your repertoire.

Keep Moving Forward

It’s important to keep in mind that the whole point of making yourself uncomfortable is to inspire progress. This doesn’t mean that you have to spend every day doing something that makes you squeamish, though.

The types of activities mentioned above can be done within any timeline you choose. Even if you only tackle one or two of them a year, it can provide you with a much-needed break from the everyday grind.

This, in turn, will help to keep your skills, creativity and enjoyment of web design at its peak.