The Front-End Dilemma

What should I use, how should I go about using it, where do I start, how long will it take me to get familiar with it?

I'm no stranger to feeling overwhelmed when it comes down to the seemingly steadily increasing (read: never ending) amount of Front-End tools on the web.    

Frameworks, from the micro variants to their beefier counterparts, a vast array of libraries, task runners and build tools of all kinds, give a lot of freedom in how one chooses to tackle a project. However, they don't necessarily instil a sense of relief in the mind of a developer prone to indecision.

Web technologies evolve at an astoundingly fast rate and tools built on them, or to leverage them, come and go.

I found myself experiencing something akin to FOMO (fear of missing out) when trying to figure out which tools could best suit my needs. Bootstrap, Tailwind, or perhaps Bulma? Gulp, Webpack, or just npm? 

Learning a stack requires a certain amount of time, and while the learning curve for some may not be that steep, it is only through the act of using them in a project that one is able to determine if it was the right call.

In the real world, there is a permanent frustration of being "stuck" with one set of tools and wanting to explore more of the vast technological landscape, while also being afraid of it taking up too much time and ultimately not being worth the effort.