[ryandvm]

Agree. I've been doing coding for 20+ years and I've gotten to the point where I'm pretty unmotivated about my work on a good day. I've tried managing teams and it wasn't for me, so I went back to being an IC. I daydream about more fulfilling careers, but there's nothing I can switch to that would come even close to my current pay right out of the gate.

It is a strange prison for sure.

[badpun]

I think the issue is that many intelligent and curious people get restless when they do the same thing for years. Eventually you stop growing and you stagnate. First it's boring, then, for many people, it becomes depressing. Even Leonardo Da Vinci got seriously bored of painting (and procrastinated a ton on his commissions, dragging them for years on some cases) once he mastered it. That's why so many people daydream about switching to a different career, including plenty of people daydreaming about switching to coding. They don't neccessarily hope the other career will be better, but they yearn to do something new and not be stuck in Groundhog Day.