I have three tactics that I think primarily contribute to staying interested in projects (in or out of work), even if I find them somewhat dull or unnecessarily

I have three tactics that I think primarily contribute to staying interested in projects (in or out of work), even if I find them somewhat dull or unnecessarily laborious: 1. Find a good space of the day when your brain is optimally productive and lock into a tasklist that you've preplanned. For example, I will often create a tasklist in the evening for what I want to achieve the next day, then hit it hard in the morning as that's when my enthusiasm and focus is best. 2. For any given project find an interesting approach to the solutions you need to provide. I won't take a run-of-the-mill approach to solving things (unless it's a quick win or mostly appropriate to do so) but will use solutions as a platform to approach things in a new way, with a new technology or just by improving what already exists. 3. Exercise: the reason I find the morning my most productive time of day is because I cycle to work every day, I think. If I have too much sedantary time in front of the computer it does my head in, but even a quick walk around the building will let my mind work on itself to meet the other two points I mention. If you're frustrated at your desk, you're already losing. Hope that helps! :-)