Ask The Well-Rounded Analyst: Upskilling without burning out

Dear The Well-Rounded Analyst,

I’ve been working as a data analyst for the past four years after completing my Master’s degree in Data Science. I love my job and the field, but I’m feeling increasingly overwhelmed by the constant pressure to upskill.

Everywhere I look on my network, people are posting about their accomplishments and cool side projects showcasing their technical skills. And every job posting I see seems to require an ever-growing list of skills and experience with technology that I haven’t even had exposure to! I’ve been spending hours each week outside of work trying to keep up with new technologies and trying to learn new languages.

This pursuit of upskilling has started to take a toll on my work-life balance. I barely have time for hobbies or socializing, and I’m often exhausted. Despite all the effort I’m putting in, I still feel like I’m falling short. How can I manage expectations that hiring companies have and grow in my career, without sacrificing my well-being?

Sincerely,

- Pressured Pythonista

Dear Pythonista,

You’re not alone in feeling this way. I’ve heard a similar story from so many of my coaching clients, ranging from new grads, to early-career professionals like yourself, to seasoned data practitioners with over a decade of experience.

The data field is moving faster than ever. There’s new technology and new applications of that technology seemingly every day. And with more and more of our careers broadcast on social media platforms, there is an unspoken pressure to upskill in order to stay relevant.

Developing a sustainable upskilling plan for YOU

As you’ve mentioned, your current approach to upskilling is having an impact on your work/life balance. Your brain and body are telling you that something is wrong, so my first advice is to hit pause.

I’ve noticed a tension lately between folks who are adamant about maintaining work/life balance, and folks who suggest the blurring the lines between work and life (work while on vacation anyone?) is optimal.

Me? I’m a big proponent of finding your own balance. That means ignoring the noise on social media unless it resonates with you.

Just because someone in your network is posting about their 4am wakeups and daily coding practice, doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Them posting it doesn’t even mean it’s real! Who is actually “inspired” by these posts? What a great way to feed into everyone’s imposter syndrome. (Side note: I don’t believe anyone who posts stuff like this. Get out of here. They’re just as bad as suck-ups who deliberately send work emails at midnight to prove how “hard” they work.)

Spending your 5-9 in courses, certifications, and side projects, is something we can all expect at various points in our career.

Let’s think about how long a career is. If you finish your education around age 22-26, and plan on retirement around age 65, you’re looking at about 40 years of daily effort expended in your overall career. That’s a lot of opportunity for upskilling and improvement. It’s also a lot of opportunity to burn yourself out if you don’t approach your skills improvement strategically.

Before jumping in to upskilling yourself, be honest with yourself about what kind of upskilling will work in your life. How much time would you be willing to dedicate, and for how long?

Without a sustainable plan, you risk exhausting yourself in the short term, which can lead to burnout and potentially turn you off of the field altogether. By pacing yourself and prioritizing essential skills, you can come up with a plan to effectively develop yourself while honouring your needs outside of work.

Balancing the need for upskilling with realistic goals

With how rapidly technology is moving these days, we can’t ignore the need to stay up-to-date. Despite the relentless march of technologies coming at us, we’re still constrained by the same number of hours in a day. By trying to keep up with everything, you’re attempting to drink from a fire hose.

How do you work smarter and not harder?

Instead of trying to master every single new tool or technology, take an inventory of your core skills. It can be as simple as reviewing and updating your resume, and identifying key gaps you’d like to fill. You can work with someone you trust, your manager, a mentor, or a coach to help you build up your inventory and self-assessment.

Where do you find the gaps? Take a look at target job descriptions as a start: what skill sets are in demand? What about people in your network who are in roles you’d like to pursue? What are their qualifications (you CAN ask!)? Are there certifications that you’re missing, or a particular branch of technology you’d like to get more involved in? Why do you want to study this?

Next, build a plan. What are the logical steps to get from A to B? What are the foundational skills you need, and where can you obtain or practice them? Think beyond online courses or side projects you can do in your scarce spare time. Is there a development budget available at work? An upcoming conference with speakers aligned with the skills you’d like to build (get your company to pay for that, too.)? What about a project coming up at work that will stretch these muscles – can you get involved in it?

Critically, you need to articulate a specific goal for your, and to build the plan from there.

So rather than taking a panicked approach to try to learn everything, identify the one thing you’d like to focus on right now and build a plan to get there. Don’t flit from one to another with a vague goal to “upskill”. Be strategic in your learning.

Hey, analytics managers: YOU need to upskill your staff

From a manager’s perspective, I’ll tell you that the best quality work came from employees who had a passion for continuous learning and rich home lives that they diligently returned to at the end of the workday. These were employees who were absolutely upskilling themselves. But they weren’t sacrificing hobbies, family, or friends to do it.

Your development journey is a joint responsibility that your manager must play a role in. Managers, you play a huge part in guiding the development of your employees.

Structure work to allow for people to develop on the job skills. If there’s a budget available for employee development, make it a priority for people to use it. If there isn’t a budget, that’s your cue to step up and fight for one.

In the meantime, ask your employees about their development goals. Help them assess their skillset and where you see room for improvement. Suggest courses, conferences, development opportunities on projects where they can stretch their wings.

Expecting employees to shoulder the entire burden of their own development, on unpaid time, is total bullshit.

Yes, the employee is hired to do a job for your company and that’s their top focus. If we’re going to take that bleak capitalist view of it, they are also there as a long-term asset to be developed over time. It’s a lot cheaper to develop and mold an existing employee to progress than to have to go out to market and find new talent. And if you don’t focus on deliberate and meaningful employee development, you’ll be paying that recruitment cost a hundred times over. Employees who are invested in are more likely to stay and they’ll provide better value to your company in the long run.

Also, it’s the right way to lead people: by taking them seriously enough to help them advance in their careers.

Final thoughts on upskilling for data professionals

Pythonista, I hope that was a good starting point for you. We all know that upskilling is absolutely necessary in our field and that’s not going away anytime soon. It’s really important for you to understand your goals and build a strategic plan for upskilling yourself: without sacrificing your mental health and energy. You’re only four years into your career: I’m at year 17 and I can tell you that you need to do this sustainably or you will burn out.

Good luck!

- The Well-Rounded Analyst

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With extensive experience leading data teams, hiring and developing talent, and coaching data professionals, The Well-Rounded Analyst is here to help you navigate your career in data and analytics. Connect with me on LinkedIN, Instagram @thewellroundedanalyst, or by email.