Sorry if my thoughts are a bit scattered, it's just random things I feel at the moment and I'm trying to not give too many details. I don't know if it's burnout, bureaucracy or just boredom.

I just got back from over a month of AL and I feel very uninspired by work (a slow build-up over the months that AL hasn't resolved for me). When i joined we were a much smaller startup but now we're a very big company and we're in the middle of restructuring to make-it-work with our influx of teams and clients.. which just means renaming some folders and changing slack channels.

This is my first "proper" software job, and I've been here about 3 years now; I enjoy the work (and obviously appreciate getting food on the table) but having this inner feeling of "bleugh" slows down my work a bit and makes the whole thing less enjoyable. Python has many pain points, but people tell me that all software can be messy, no matter if it's golang, rust, or clojure (things that I've looked at with interest - new and exciting).

I know there's an element of "all companies do this" and naturally, finding success means bigger company, bigger company means more bureaucracy.

I've dabbled in making my own businesses / ideas on the side but it's hard to find the time when the main work really drains the spirit. Should I just look for more exciting work or just not take it so personally and focus on my side projects or what?

What have you done with similar thoughts? How do you find enjoyment in work, especially when it goes from "fun startup" to "corporate enterprise" - am I just being childish?