Am I doing everything right?

[Averax]

Edit: What i wrote below is no longer relevant. I'm giving updates throughout the thread marking my progress and asking new questions. So i no longer need replies directly to the OP.

I'm new-ish to FFXIV. This is my first time actually leveling through to the end, and I've got a few questions about my progression.

Everything was pretty linear at around 1-30, i kept up with the main storyline and everything was progressing smoothly. Recently, i've noticed that i'm struggling to keep up with the main storyline. I've been doing all the side quests i can find, a levequest or two where i can, fate now and then, but that doesn't seem to be enough.

I'm finding that every now and then i hit a snag and I end up being a level below what i should be to progress onward, and it's been happening over and over leveling to 36.

The only thing i've been doing to catch up are levequests and grinding the duty finder.

Is there something else I should be doing?

I've noticed it's also getting harder to kill groups, and many quests spawn groups of things on top of me

If this is of any relevance, i've been leveling a black mage.

Did i make a poor first choice of class?