So I've been working as a programmer

For a while now, and I must say it's killing whatever passion I had for the art. It's a nice job, and it's not like I dislike doing it, don't get me wrong, but everything I code seems really trivial and non-important now. I'm too familiar with the language I work with. There are no surprises, no ambitions, there is no real joy.

Don't ever get a job, /prog/.

If you have free time between your assignments, here's what you should do: work on your own, interesting projects using the company's time. No one, not even other programmers, can tell code in the same language apart at a glance. It will seem like you're always busy on whatever trivial shit they gave you. This works best if you're supposed to wait for assignments, rather than ask for assignments. This way you can hone your skills and get paid for it.