This exact thing started happening to me more and more frequently when I hit age 30. I tried all the standard remedies: psychological tricks, pomodoro technique

This exact thing started happening to me more and more frequently when I hit age 30. I tried all the standard remedies: psychological tricks, pomodoro techniques, vacations, exercise, reducing stimulants, increasing stimulants, blocking the internet, and so forth. However, in late 2008 I faced up to the fact that I simply do not care as much about programming as I once did. I also did some soul searching and realized that perhaps I never really "liked" programming. My relationship to programming has been more like an obsession or compulsion than someone pursuing a passion. My solution is that I set a hard deadline of my 35th birthday to leave the field. I took a much higher paying programming job in the financial sector at the beginning of 2009, and moved in with roommates for the first time in 15 years, to save as much money as possible. I am lucky in that I have other talents to explore, and friends and relatives with unrelated businesses where I can always get a job in a pinch. This might not be the right way for anyone else. However, I thought that since your symptoms are exactly the same as mine, I should share. I wish I would have figured this out for myself years sooner, as I could have saved myself a lot of frustration and unhappiness. Good luck.