I had the same experience. One day I realized that I no longer enjoyed doing sysadmin work, especially on my own machines. I began to loathe complicated confi

I had the same experience. One day I realized that I no longer enjoyed doing sysadmin work, especially on my own machines. I began to loathe complicated config files that require reading manuals to figure out how they work. Examples: SystemD, NixOS, Bazel, and BCL/GCL. Even worse are tools that silently ignore errors in config files. Examples: Gulp, ESLint, and nearly every other tool written in JavaScript. Now I use a single machine with macOS and leave nearly every setting at the default. I don't even use Brew. I prefer to use tools that come with their own installers and updaters. I think this change happened when I finally found work that difficult for me and took all of my energy. I had no energy left over to waste on sysadmin work. Also, my brain began to fill up with knowledge of systems programming, languages, and libraries. Recalling details of random config files takes more effort than before. I think my brain has a hierarchical memory system with four types of long-term memory: 0. Knowledge available instantly 1. Knowledge retrievable with 2-3 seconds of concentration 2. Knowledge that is unavailable upon request, but usually pops into mind 1-2 minutes later. 3. Knowledge that I can retrieve only with an associated memory or idea. When I was a teenager, my technical knowledge fit into my tier 0 memory. Then I earned a degree and worked some years and my knowledge grew to fill tiers 0 & 1 and some has been relegated to tiers 2 and 3. I take and keep many photos because I can use them years later to retrieve forgotten memories. Maybe I will start taking screenshots of my computer to use in a similar way.