Levelling has got too fast these days to give people a chance to catch up, but levelling so fast means people get less items and books along the way which causes imbalance
Taking a bit of time out to collect items or to just grind gold generation so you can buy them, can go a long way and make a character a lot more playable.
Items and books are cheaper than they've ever been, and gold is easier to take than its ever been. I feel sometimes there's too much pressure to 'catch up' and sometimes it's worth just taking the foot off the gas and enjoying the lower levels for what they are, exp will come in time