It would be extremely hard to do the same general thing for a long time (on the order of years) without getting bored. That’s how I view life anyway. So when I was getting bored of my research, it worried me. “Am I not interested in this work anymore?” I wondered. Then I went to a conference. It wasn’t just any sort of conference either; it was a conference on the specific field of what I aspired to do: computer-aided drug design. I was blown away. The amount of such honesty (e.g., “molecular dynamics is terrible”), excitement, creativity, intelligence, and camaraderie was almost palpable.
Honestly speaking, there was a tiny bit of trepidation going in (e.g., “will I understand any of it”, “will my research be appropriate to present”, “is my poster good enough”). But sometimes leaving one’s comfort zones can reap bountiful rewards. For me, those rewards were a renewed sense of appreciation and purpose for what I do, meeting fantastic and influential individuals, learning a shit ton of new science, and simply having fun. 10/10 would do again.