While I can 100% relate to your scenario, a big part of being a professional at any job (not just development) is being able to set aside your personal feelings and emotions and get your job done.
It's good that you are getting your job done, but it seems that you are still having issues setting aside your personal feelings and emotions. This is pretty normal for inexperienced developers. It's something you should focus on working on.
Here's how I developed that skill:
1) Remind myself that this is not my company or my project. It's someone else's. There's no reason for me to feel so personally invested in the project as a whole. If I've voiced my concerns and thoughts and been overruled, then my job is to get what is asked of me done to the best of my ability.
2) Have side projects that ARE personal and that I CAN be emotionally invested in. When you have a side project where you do call the shots and it's done 100% the way you want, you will find it is easier to not be so emotional over your day job.
3) Lastly, I have found that as I get more experienced and better at explaining myself, situations where managers overrule me and tell me to do something that is against my own recommendation become more and more rare (they'll still happen sometimes as long as someone above you can make unilateral decisions, so never expect it to fully go away.)
It's good that you've recognized your situation needs to change. Best of luck.
I like all your points, but option 2 is very intriguing. I've never had the time for that, given I use all my mental and physical capacities for my day job. So I'm conflicted; I just don't think I'd have enough time to do a side project to the standards I'd expect of myself.
I think that's also why many posters here are saying 'use some new language feature X to make your work project more exciting' - basically adding a side project into your day job. [I think that road can lead to ruin, if you're making it harder on the next person to work on the code. Be careful and considerate.]
I know a lot of people work that way (using new technologies in their day jobs) but personally I take my day job too seriously to do that. I learn new technologies by doing side projects. Then once I feel comfortable with them I can start using them in my day job. I don't want to look my boss or coworkers in the face and say "Yeah that fuck up was because I was using this project to learn a new thing."
I think you're over estimating how much time you need for a side project. You can even just spend a couple hours on a couple weekends a month on something. Or even every other month. You don't have to work on it every day or anything. That's the great thing about it being a side project. There's no rush. No timetable other than whatever you choose for yourself.
It's good that you are getting your job done, but it seems that you are still having issues setting aside your personal feelings and emotions. This is pretty normal for inexperienced developers. It's something you should focus on working on.
Here's how I developed that skill:
1) Remind myself that this is not my company or my project. It's someone else's. There's no reason for me to feel so personally invested in the project as a whole. If I've voiced my concerns and thoughts and been overruled, then my job is to get what is asked of me done to the best of my ability.
2) Have side projects that ARE personal and that I CAN be emotionally invested in. When you have a side project where you do call the shots and it's done 100% the way you want, you will find it is easier to not be so emotional over your day job.
3) Lastly, I have found that as I get more experienced and better at explaining myself, situations where managers overrule me and tell me to do something that is against my own recommendation become more and more rare (they'll still happen sometimes as long as someone above you can make unilateral decisions, so never expect it to fully go away.)
It's good that you've recognized your situation needs to change. Best of luck.