Title: Hi folks, throwaway account obviously.<p>I&#x27;m a dev with a bit over 15 years experience. Right now I&#x27;m a senior dev working in &quot;cloud computing infrastructure&quot;. I&#x27;ve hit a point of malaise and I need help.<p>Admittedly, calling my problems problems is a disservice to real problems. I get that. But I hope you can empathize with the fact that anyone in any situation can become unhappy and want to feel happy and fulfilled again. So, hear me out.<p>I need change. I&#x27;m not burned out. I&#x27;m bored, maybe. Confused, perhaps?<p>Problem 1: My comp is high (total comp &gt; $200k last year), to the point where almost anywhere else I go will be a step down I feel. Having said that, I know if I randomly jump ship to another BigCo, I will keep that comp at least the same, and also pull down probably close to $100k in signing bonuses. So do I just bounce somewhere to pick up a pile of money?<p>Problem 2: My seniority is decreasing &quot;hands on keyboard&quot; time, which is what&#x27;s made me happy since I started programming in second grade. So I feel like my reward for accomplishment is to diminish what makes me happy. Some weird version of the Peter principle...<p>Problem 3: I literally have no idea what I want to work on. I&#x27;ve worked on lots of different things over the years, and I&#x27;m at the point where I look at the landscape out there - and it&#x27;s just &quot;meh&quot;. I don&#x27;t see much changing on a day to day basis from where I&#x27;m at now. Nothing is exciting me.<p>Problem 4: I don&#x27;t want to go into management, and I&#x27;m having a hard time understanding how to grow anymore as a developer.<p>Has anyone ever been here before? How did you get out? The tl;dr is &quot;don&#x27;t find satisfaction in what I&#x27;m working on, look around, don&#x27;t find anything appealing or any motivation to choose one thing over another.&quot; Is that it, have I just arrived at my professional plateau?<p>Help!
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