Only around 30 and feeling this mundane? Although I loved the technology I was working on, my last job became five work-days filled with meetings too. I can t

Only around 30 and feeling this mundane? Although I loved the technology I was working on, my last job became five work-days filled with meetings too. I can tell you that it turned what could have been my hobby (the technology) into a similarly mundane existence. A day full of meetings poses three problems: 1) Poorly run meetings consume too much time without accomplishing anything. 2) Having a full day of meetings almost eliminates the possibility of getting real work done while you're fresh. 3) The meetings are often so dull (probably the small ratio of useful content to blather), that you'll be tired sooner. I became quite a contrarian ... refusing meetings when there wasn't a clear-cut agenda and goals and in general trying to take back some of the time for actual work. It didn't work, but it did earn me some black marks with my managers. Finally, I started a venture with two other guys and the three of us have clear-cut roles. Since we trust that the others are capable and willing to do their parts, we have only three calls a week, each scheduled to be 15 minutes (but generally they're closer to 30). Now we're starting to demo to customers and those meetings are exciting ... validation of some of our ideas, new ideas and occasional criticism that keeps us on the right track can be invigorating. I hope you're able to find that kind of excitement soon ... I've rediscovered the adventure in my life!