[tesin]

Yes, I had a job like that. At one point I literally had nothing to do, even after asking.

I made getting another job a priority, which was compounded by a 360 review (job feedback) that was meant to be anonymous, but turned out to be anything but. The fallout was my supervisor left (might be been asked to) and I got a job elsewhere - 50% better pay and infinitely more stimulating.

Find a way to the exit.

[boredaway]

Thanks for sharing.

Definitely trying to exit.

It just feels very hard to study enough to be able to get a decent job. Everything feels so dull and uninteresting.

[mateo411]

You should take a few days off. If you are in the US, there is a holiday coming up. It doesn't appear that they have anything pressing for you to work on. Take a day or two off for yourself, and then start looking for another job.

[MathMonkeyMan]

A few days? This is better than not taking time off, but I need at least a couple weeks to even remember who I am.

[buffington]

You may simply be in the wrong line of work.

I've made a career of making software for the past 25+ years. If I didn't love the work, I'd be miserable, because there are times when things aren't interesting, or the work feels pointless, or it's hard or tedious.

When I start feeling this way, I step back and try to get a different perspective. I might think it's pointless, but am missing something? The thing that works for me is to try to quantify its value. The goal is to try to prove it's pointless, but more often than not, it proves I'm not aware of all the reasons why the work needs to be done. Or it helps me see how, with some adjustments, it could be very valuable.

When things ares simply slow, it's also a great time to learn how to be better at your role. For me, it's learning new programming languages, or learning about new processes or tools. I think that because I love what I do I have zero lack of motivation to learn how to be better at it.

If that's not happening for you, it may be that you don't love the work, or what the work enables. If you hate guns, for example, you probably wouldn't be that happy working for a gun manufacturer, no matter how well it paid. But if you love music, you could do the exact same kind of work and love it while working for a company that helps put more music in the world. What your efforts enable is crazy influential on how you feel about the work you do.

The latter part is a big deal. There have been times in my career where I was getting paid ludicrous amounts of money, yet I didn't believe in what the company was doing. That was a perfect recipe for burnout, let alone boreout.

For at least the last 7-10 years I've been lucky enough to work for companies who's missions I very much support and have supported, and know my efforts actually mean something. In one case, I worked for a charity and got paid very little money, but still count it as hardest and the most important work I've ever done. I'd still be there today if I could afford it (and have real plans of being there again in semi-retirement).

I recognize that being able to pick what work you do is a privilege that not everyone can take advantage of. If you're in that position, do whatever you can to find something that you enjoy doing. It may be in a totally different industry than the one you're involved in now. It may feel like a demotion, or that it requires you to take a pay cut. It's worth it if you like the work.

Maybe it helps to examine what you find important in a job. For me the right one is one that, in this order:

1. focuses on purpose over profits 2. allows me to decide how best to solve problems 3. pays enough that I don't have to worry about money

If the job can't satisfy those three things, I find one that does.

[boredaway]

Thanks for the advice!

I have actually thought about changing my line of work, but whenever I find something interesting about software dev, I just can't see myself doing anything else.

Part of the frustration I feel, I think, has to do with not being able to do something that actually adds value to the business, and in general feeling like my position is just useless, not necessarily the line of work per se.

I've been doing software dev for more than 15 years an I've loved pretty much every minute of it, so even though I'm definitely interested in other things, like cooking, I just don't see myself doing that for a living.

Also, funnily enough, the company I work for has a really interesting mission, it's just that my position in particular feels pointless and directionless, and the management team doesn't seem to care or know how to fix that.

[giantg2]

I asked for something to do today. I was give 3 separate 1 line changes. Now I'm just watching the builds and waiting to do some cursory tests.

[notreallyserio]

Oh yes, those anonymous-but-not processes are a killer. I recently dealt with that. If I didn't have equity I'd be goooone.