[jgsteven]

Have you ever coded for a project you were excited about? Where you could feel really good about delivering a quality, useful product? If possible, try and find that at your current job. If not, a new job may be the best route. Management and bureaucracy are great at squashing good vibes here.

Also, see if you can find some satisfaction in expanding your programming skills through reading and learning. Not sure your experience level here, but I would recommend that to anyone -- it has made a huge difference to me personally.

[richmt]

Pretty early in my career. I've held two jobs that both sound wildly better than any other option in the near area (small startups with tons of work vs. big businesses where nothing gets done).

I intend to spend no free time on my career outside of work. There are far too many other things in life I would prefer to work on and experience, hence why I wonder if this is the right field for me.

Sorry if I sound so negative, it's just how I've felt since first starting out in my field.