Sorry to hear it's become a bit of a trudge... For some people, coding is more like a personality trait. They naturally think directly in code terms. Less some

Sorry to hear it's become a bit of a trudge... For some people, coding is more like a personality trait. They naturally think directly in code terms. Less some specific syntax... Others don't do this so much. Maybe they see outcomes in their mind rather than having a dialogue about process, piece by piece. But for these people there's also a lot of opportunity in leveraging those tools that fall outside of the coding mindset. This dichotomy can provide a good opportunity to think about whether a break from your main direction might be more appropriate, or if a change in direction on a career basis may be a better idea. > How do you keep yourself motivated/interested after years/decades? You should also be focusing a lot of the investigation here on your environment and circumstances. Things will get more tractable in a big-picture way. So, "how does your environment keep you interested..." Might also be a really helpful question to ask people. You'll still need to be responsible for yourself, but it'll be far easier to try different mindsets, ideas, outlooks, and projects if you shift your environment. This is especially true if you are generally a more responsive person than a directive one (one is not better than the other, but it's good to know about yourself). If you find yourself generally responding to the demands of your environment as if to prove yourself and your grit, skills, tools, or attitudes--problematic environments can be very toxic in a sense because you'll be more likely to blame _their_ problems on things that _you_ lack. You can also change directions dramatically without changing your career, by the way. This can be a really interesting experimental process within a single workplace even. And some people end up being an _invite_ away from changing careers anyway, not an _impulse_ away, as they previously thought. "One day some co-workers approached me and...(etc) now I'm doing this other thing and I'm very happy". Just some ideas for you though, good luck with everything.