Making software is more than coding. It's about both solving and finding problems. In my experience, boring people make uninteresting products and lack imagination to solve the hard ones. Having fun is crucial for creativity and loosening the mind to now what you "should do" but what you "could do".
You get paid to solve problems not write software, and having fun is critical to solving problems. If you are bored, stressed, and frustrated, what makes you think your mind would be in a good place to solve problems?
I am blaming the companies, not the workers. It's not your responsibility to make sure you have the environment to do your job well. That's the job of the company. There are a lot of bad companies out there and that's my point. They don't care what you feel and whether you have fun and that's to their detriment and yours.
It might be to their detriment, but I suffered much more than I could detect that they suffered so I am keeping a reserved judgement on that one. But even if you are 100% correct (a real possibility) then it still doesn't matter much; I suffered and I still do.
Environment and even geographical area count. A lot. Even if I worked remotely for the last 14 years. Turns out USA companies really don't want people outside of USA, especially recently.
Yes, despite what outsiders think, programming is a tough gig. Even in the US, if you look at wages, they have been stagnant since the dot com bubble collapsed if you account for inflation. People are overworked and as recently shown, job security is not really there. Outside the US it's often worse.
I still suffer, to this day. Gets more and more difficult as you age.
Hopefully I wisened up and I think I started doing the right steps but it's like blowing against the wind; ultimately you'll succeed but... yeah, nevermind. Don't want to complain. I can muscle through it. Not like I have any other meaningful choice either. It's a victory or death situation (not literally but almost).
Thanks for your sympathy. <3
Hope I didn't come across as too much of an arse. I am simply way too jaded and burned out.
You get paid to solve problems not write software, and having fun is critical to solving problems. If you are bored, stressed, and frustrated, what makes you think your mind would be in a good place to solve problems?