I'm almost 50, I don't think this is age related cognitive decline per-se. My guess is that it's motivation-related. As I age, I noticed that my ability to perf

I'm almost 50, I don't think this is age related cognitive decline per-se. My guess is that it's motivation-related. As I age, I noticed that my ability to perform what I perceive as needless/unimportant busy work has declined and I find my mind drifting to thoughts like "Why am I doing this? This should be automated. This task would not have been necessary unless someone screwed up." When I was 20 I didn't question whether pulling an allnighter for some absurd arbitrary deadline was justified, but I steer way clear of these kinds of projects and clients now that I'm older. It may be time for a change. It's probably a programmer's version of a midlife crisis. You notice that your remaining (productive) time is limited and running out quickly. While porting code from one language to another can be fun, I doubt this fun extends to mindlessly porting APIs. Your brain may just be rebelling.