Is being a programmer a good career?

Is there some good career advice for a tired programmer?

• Hi. I'm a Brazilian software developer, and I have been working in the field since I got my college degree seven years ago. Recently, I have noticed that my productivity has been decreasing steadily and I can hardly get any joy from work. I still like programming, though. I write some JS/HTML5/NodeJS and Android experiments at home, and they give me a fair amount of joy. I also started taking art classes recently and they've been fun so far (though I'm not good at it yet). The problem is, work is getting more and more difficult to deal with, not because of the complexity of the solutions, but because I can hardly find any motivation to get it done. I have talked to my managers and switched projects and teams a couple of times, but the issue persists. Maybe it's worth mentioning that, in Brazil, programmers are highly underpaid if you compare them with other professionals, but I don't think that's the problem because I don't have money issues or huge material ambitions. I also have some stash in the bank that can keep me afloat for a while should someone decides to fire me. I've considered changing jobs, but I think most companies are the same thing here. Proof of that is that I have already been in other jobs before my current one, including in small startups and in one huge corporation, and I haven't seen too much difference. My current job is in a mid-sized software development outsourcing group that has most of its clients in the US and UK. So, I really don't know. Should I quit? Should I switch careers? Oh, and if that's relevant, I'm 28 and don't have a spouse or kids or anything.

• Answer:

  Go outside, try other things, volunteer for a political campaign. Join a book club, or form one. Find pick up sports games. Go swimming. Learn how to bake a soufflé. Read fiction. Read non-fiction. Eat an orange. Take a music lesson(s). Tutor someone. Borrow a movie from the library. Babysit. Ride a bike. Drive a car. Attend a city council meeting or a court case. whatever you do, don't read the news. Get a skateboard. Skateboard. Visit a historic site. Buy a t-shirt from the gift shop. Walk across your town/city. Try hitch hiking. Throw a dinner party. Play board games (not online). Masturbate. Have sex. Take a shower. Chat with your friends about *their* lives. Make them some software. Go to sleep. Tomorrow's an important day