Also, I am mindful of one of the many admonitions in The Elements of Programming Style:

“Don’t diddle the code to make it faster: choose a better algorithm.”

It is very frequently the case that, whatever you might be doing, it has already been done before.   Hence, perhaps the single most important thing to do, especially at the start of a project, is “due diligence.”   Search CPAN thoroughly and carefully.   These modules are generally well-crafted and known to work.   Your “programming” almost devolves into “stringing them together.”   And the best response to TMTOWTDI is ... “pick one and do it.”