I agree with OP mindset but not saying there is an unique answer, just different mindsets. Personally, I enjoyed when thinking in a specific problem, improvement, algorithm, etc could last forever. The point was enjoying the moment and connecting the brain with strong feelings about progress and microachievements. I could rewrite the same app from scratch without feeling exhausted, just for pleasure.

I also think specialization works against this idea. In the early 80s a computer game was a job of a single or few developers: they were moving a few pixels, using limited colors, and with very limited sound capabilities. Now it is very difficult to impress ourselves or others working in small groups. There are exceptions like computer security, demo scenes, etc but the participants are outliers and not the common denominator.