The 7 biggest barriers to learning a new skill (and how to smash through them)

I’ve been meaning to properly learn a specific piece of design software for about three years now. I’ve bookmarked tutorials, joined Discord servers, even bought a course in a sale. What I haven’t done? Actually opened it and made anything.

Sound familiar? Whether it’s motion graphics, UX design, copywriting or that new coding framework everyone keeps banging on about, most creatives have skills sitting in a mental “someday” pile. And we’re particularly good at finding reasons why now isn’t the right time – even if we've tooled up with one of the best drawing tablets.

Of course, deep down, we know that now is always the right time. The creative industry moves fast. New tools, techniques and technologies show up constantly, and there’s relentless pressure to stay relevant. Yet despite knowing we should be learning, many of us struggle to actually do it.

Over the years, I’ve talked to designers, writers and strategists about this, and battled against it myself. The same barriers come up again and again. Here are seven of the biggest… and how to get past them. Having similar issues in your downtime? Try my tips for beating procrastination to start that creative hobby.

01. Perfectionism paralysis

If you’re a creative professional, you have high standards. You know what good work looks like. Clients trust you. Your portfolio is solid. That’s great… until you try to learn something new. Suddenly, your output doesn’t match your taste, and that gap can feel unbearable. You know it’s bad, and you can’t unsee it. I once spent six hours trying to make my first After Effects animation look professional. It still looked like it had been made by someone who’d used After Effects for six hours. Which, of course, it had.

How to overcome it: Give yourself explicit permission to make bad work. Not “rough” work; genuinely terrible work. Set a goal such as: I will make five embarrassing animations or 10 objectively bad designs. This isn’t client work or portfolio work. It’s practice. And practice is supposed to look bad.

02. The billable hours trap

For freelancers, every hour spent learning is an hour you’re not billing, pitching or shipping. Compared to people in salaried roles, there’s pressure to always be “productive”. So learning gets framed as a luxury; something you’ll do "once things calm down". Spoiler alert: things never calm down.

How to overcome it: Treat learning like a business investment, not a hobby. Block out non-negotiable time in your calendar and protect it like a client meeting. Spending four hours a month learning might “cost” you now, but it could unlock much higher-value work later.

03. Imposter syndrome (but worse)

Creative people already struggle with imposter syndrome. Learning a new skill cranks it up to 11. You might be a senior designer who’s suddenly slower than a teenager. Or a seasoned writer whose first video edit looks… tragic. The mental whiplash is real. "I’m meant to be good at creative things," you think. "So why am I so bad at this one?"

How to overcome it: Separate your professional identity from your learning identity. You’re not “a designer who’s bad at animation”. You’re a designer and a beginner animator. Those can coexist. Seek out beginner spaces (courses, forums, Discords) where struggling is normal. And remember: experience transfers. You already understand creative process, feedback and iteration. You’re not starting from zero. (One of these laptops for animation will help, too.)

04. The tutorial loop

Watching tutorials feels productive. You’re learning terminology, seeing workflows, nodding along. But often, you’re not actually building the skill; just the comforting illusion of progress. For example, I’ve watched an alarming number of Figma tutorials. I’ve completed… very few actual projects.

How to overcome it: Set a strict ratio: for every hour of tutorials, spend at least two hours making something on that swanky laptop for graphic design I know you've invested in. Better yet, watch 10 minutes, pause the video, and recreate what you just saw from memory. It’s uncomfortable and messy, but can be wildly effective.

05. Comparison and Instagram anxiety

You open Instagram for “a quick break” and see someone younger, better and wildly accomplished at the exact skill you’re learning. They have an insane number of followers. Their work is flawless. You close the app feeling crushed.

How to overcome it: Mute or unfollow people who are brilliant at the skill you’re learning. Yes, really. You can re-follow them later. Right now, their excellence is sabotaging your momentum. Instead, follow people who document their learning process: the messy middle, not just the highlights. Alternatively, take a temporary social media break altogether. The apps will still be there when you come back, hopefully with a new skill to show for it.

06. Choice paralysis 

Should you learn Webflow or Framer? After Effects or Premiere? Strategy or service design? With so many options, the fear of choosing wrong often stops you choosing at all. Even worse, you start learning something, see someone hyping a different tool, and suddenly your choice feels obsolete before you’ve finished the basics.

How to overcome it: Ask yourself one simple question: which skill will make my next project easier or more interesting? Not your dream job in five years; your actual, real next project. Then commit for three months. Mute keywords, delete bookmarks, unsubscribe from adjacent newsletters. Give yourself tunnel vision. You can learn everything else later. Right now, this is the thing.

07. The 'it's too late' mentality

"I should have learned this five years ago." "Everyone younger than me already knows this." "I'm too established to start from scratch." Creative professionals are especially vulnerable to this kind of thinking, because our field skews so young. But here's the truth: you're not competing with 23-year-olds. You're building on a foundation of experience they don't have. That combination is actually more valuable than either skill in isolation.

How to overcome it: Reframe the narrative. You're not behind; you're adding a new dimension. A designer learning copywriting isn't playing catch-up; they're becoming a designer who can write. That's rare and valuable. Look for examples of people who learned the skill later in their careers. They exist in every field. Follow them. Study how they integrated new skills with existing expertise. And ask yourself: would you rather be 40 with this new skill, or 40 wishing you'd learned it at 35 (but still not learning it)? The time will pass either way.