[metaloha]

Best of luck. I've been in this grind for about 35 years now, very similar history.

Two suggestions that might help:

  * switch careers
  * freelance full-time

If you have any other talents or fields of interest, try finding work there (mechanic, electrician, trades, administration, technical writing, etc.).

As a freelancer, you can keep doing what you enjoy, but the scenery changes much more frequently, which might alleviate the ennui.

[throwaway_32u10]

Thanks.

Is freelancing really that different? I keep hearing opinion for both sides ranging from "freelancing is truly different" to "freelancing is corporate/office job in disguise".

[metaloha]

It varies, same as so many things :) You can concentrate on finding work within a narrow range where you feel expert in, or spread the net wider and take on work that lets you learn new things as well. You might have a lot of domain experience (eg. financial, construction, real estate, etc.) that you can leverage into finding work, or intentionally find things outside your comfort zone.

We make our own prisons, so to speak, and freelancing can be as restrictive or as freeing as you make it (market conditions may dictate some of this, though).

I usually freelance within a single tech stack and closely related tech, but cast a wide net as far as the type of business goes (music, financial, AI, real estate, legal - all are industries I have some experience with now, and many more).