Motivation is to pay rent or mortgage, money for hobbies, leisure, travel and so on. If you are already independently wealthy (and I'm not saying this sarcasti

Motivation is to pay rent or mortgage, money for hobbies, leisure, travel and so on. If you are already independently wealthy (and I'm not saying this sarcastically), then I can understand the ennui. On the other hand your attitude is slightly negative. When I first read your second paragraph, it sounded like you're the independent type, but also an introverted type. Take it from me, job skills are much more than programming or project management or such skills, even management. They are . Dealing with people that you don't necessarily feel strongly positive about . Dealing with projects you're not passionate about . Dealing with being managed sometimes poorly (there are a number of ways to be a bad manager). By "dealing" I mean emotionally, not walking around angrily or sadly while still managing the above things. I assure you, with responsibilities (like a mortgage), suddenly the motivation for tolerating this goes up. Also, by "dealing" I mean telling yourself it's temporary, and finding ways to improve the situation: one example is to spot a more interesting project or role in the company and try to gun for it. Or finding a better role in a company that doesn't have the limitations of the current. Etc. I feel like being an employee is more like being a child that sits there waiting for their parents to give them chores. I feel like a mindless drone that goes to temporary prison everyday before going to home to loathe to myself until I have to do it again the next day. I don't know what to do. I'm just not interested in having a career track of working away at a job to maybe get recognized or get a pay bump. I am tired of hating work. You need to not be a micromanaged or "fateful" employee. Work in a startup (again), which will automatically give you more responsibility and power. Gun for management (see above about "dealing") and be patient til you get it. Find a company that values your independence. Certainly I hate sitting and waiting for tasks, so I, an introvert (although you'd never know it) have adapted by being fairly aggressive in seeking out getting what I want, both inside companies and outside. I don't wait around, I assert what should be done, and with patience I get respected enough to get it. Believe me, it took me some tries to get that down right politically, but you'd be surprised by how much that is respected. Hope that helps.