One of my challenges is that I don't like easy problems, they are too simple to solve and I get bored. Because of that I have always invested most of my time into interesting technical problems instead. Just not always at work.
There are a couple of things intertwined in the phrasing of this particular question, job satisfaction and the quest for a challenge.
I stepped into this mess when interviewing a candidate who shared that they were looking for a new job because they wanted greater challenge (and this is a fine reason to change jobs in my opinion). I asked them what they were doing now that was challenging. That lead to a good discussion on how much of the problem of lack of challenge was their problem, and how much of it was their managers problem? Clearly a good manager would try to keep you challenged but a good employee can seek out challenging things without needing their bosses approval. One need only look at various online courses to realize that with no more than a few git clone operations and an AWS account you can start looking at very challenging problems. There are programs like the HeroX one which seek out participation in technical challenges, and there are local opportunities to engage in challenging problems that impact the community around you.
The discussion came around to this question, "What prevents you from taking on challenging problems right now?" And the answer was, for this candidate, nothing really, they had just not felt empowered enough to choose their own path.
My advice is that if you like your co-workers and your management and the work isn't hard, just repetitive, then automate as much of it as possible and look for your challenges outside of work. If you don't like your work environment then change it if you can.
There are a couple of things intertwined in the phrasing of this particular question, job satisfaction and the quest for a challenge.
I stepped into this mess when interviewing a candidate who shared that they were looking for a new job because they wanted greater challenge (and this is a fine reason to change jobs in my opinion). I asked them what they were doing now that was challenging. That lead to a good discussion on how much of the problem of lack of challenge was their problem, and how much of it was their managers problem? Clearly a good manager would try to keep you challenged but a good employee can seek out challenging things without needing their bosses approval. One need only look at various online courses to realize that with no more than a few git clone operations and an AWS account you can start looking at very challenging problems. There are programs like the HeroX one which seek out participation in technical challenges, and there are local opportunities to engage in challenging problems that impact the community around you.
The discussion came around to this question, "What prevents you from taking on challenging problems right now?" And the answer was, for this candidate, nothing really, they had just not felt empowered enough to choose their own path.
My advice is that if you like your co-workers and your management and the work isn't hard, just repetitive, then automate as much of it as possible and look for your challenges outside of work. If you don't like your work environment then change it if you can.