I have experienced these sentiments at various jobs and times. I've also varied my types of jobs to be exploring new areas and higher challenges. Other times, I

I have experienced these sentiments at various jobs and times. I've also varied my types of jobs to be exploring new areas and higher challenges. Other times, I've found interesting/challenging ways to get work done which may (or may not) pay off in the future--things like code analyzers/generators, etc. On the other extreme, I was terminated early from a contract position for "doing math at work after hours"--I was bored and doing Project Euler with a random new language. I totally understood my work was done and was highly paid, so any excuse to cut costs made sense. There's many kinds of 'programming' and the OP only seems to have done standard applications. Maybe get a job at Jane Street and they might be challenged. I myself don't think I'd qualify but I don't complain about the banality of mundane tasks--I find interesting and challenging ways to make software tools that help devs and/or help customers. Somehow I've almost always managed to find a balance of keeping employers happy while carving out time to do experimental work. It's probably a combination of communication, alignment, and trust. Start small, show value in the kinds of things you're talking about, and demonstration is key--talk/complaining won't move the needle. And don't delay key deliverables to do something excessively unusual.