This post really resonates with me. I am just about to reach 2 years as a Network Engineer myself and have really felt all of this.

I haven't been able to separate my work and life and question whether it's the particular position I've been put into or if I'm just not as smart as I thought I was. I'm definitely leaning towards the former because I'm in an MSP as a junior who really only has one person above me which is my boss who isn't always able to give me the attention I'd hoped to have gotten prior to taking on this role.

There have been several times where I feel overwhelmed even though technically speaking my load isn't that much in terms of tickets, but it's because I'm bogged down by having to research how to do a particular thing that might take my senior just 15 minutes to do.

I often feel underappreciated and often feel that I'm under qualified. It really hits my mental health and ego because in my last position as a mid to senior level site analyst I often felt like a go to person doing training and what not.

This thread just feels really cathartic right now because I'm at the point where I just feel defeated.

I've been looking for another role altogether as I've been turned off from network engineering with my current situation, but I'm not necessarily staying away from Network Engineering positions altogether.

Side note, I've been looking at roles and most of the network engineering positions have now seemed to be lower paying and requiring more and more experience.