My solution to this was to try and solve real people’s problems with tech. Being able to sit down with the person using your thing gives a tangible feedback cycle to your work.

Instead of “I pushed this update and maybe this metric changed 8%? Or maybe something else did it?”

You get towards “Sue saved 2 hours of her normal workday today and got to go home to her family on time”

You’re still using those skills you’ve built, but in a very different way. One that I find creates a lot more dopamine.