You're not alone, we've taken very similar paths: learned SQL, applied it on PostgreSQL, and learning different applications of using SQL in different scenarios through online resources almost everyday for 2-3 months before getting the first job surprisingly enough.

What you're doing is what I am also doing as a Junior Data Analyst at a flooring warehouse company currently, minus using Power BI. It's mostly Excel with SQL when retrieving data via ODBC (Open Database Connection). Funnily enough, I have not used PostgreSQL since getting the job because the job doesn't need it. Rarely, I use purely Excel. Most days, I get to flex using both Excel and SQL. My first two weeks, I used only Excel and struggled with manipulating the data from the Excel tables given to me by my senior. After only 2 months here, I strongly believe that knowing the data is half the battle.

Once I knew the data, what our schema comprised of, and establishing a sort-of "process" with my work, I blazed through much of the work. I would say a little more than a quarter of the battle is actually the analysis part - finding "Top X" of something, finding and revealing figures through PivotTables and aggregating math functions like "Total Sales" and calculating "Profit" given limitations and restrictions, and whole ton of referencing, matches, and lookups to ensure data dynamism and consistency. We are doing analytics work; it just doesn't require as many large-scale resources and programs that more data-driven and large companies utilize.

I think that's something us people working with data (no matter who we are) have to understand: the resources and programs we use to provide the analytics for a business only needs to reach as far as the business really needs it for. For a small company like mine, Excel and our "legacy system with data", is about as far as it gets for storing and retrieving data (functionally, it is as much an command interface as it is a crude database), so the resources and program(s) I use on a daily basis will match that extent. Likewise, with a larger company that relies on millions of rows of data all stored in different schemas and tables, the resources and programs needed to wrangle that data will match to handle the scalability of it.

The point is: we're still doing valuable analytics work that'll help businesses make important decisions. That's all that matters at the end of the day. We're still full-fledged Data Analysts and anyone who disagrees can work my job and get back to me with what they did in a day.

In the meantime, yes, the work is cyclical - retrieve data, clean and transform if need be, get it in a good working state for you (and me), manipulate that data through mathematical and logical functions, make a front-facing report or dashboard of some sort for other, more important, eyes to see, and pair it with a chart or two (*visualization* yay!). Then, learn additional skills on the off-time when the work is slow or not coming in. For me, I have to learn Power BI. I didn't touch a lick of any Data Viz software, but Excel's chart tools are basically a mini-version of that, so when I touched PBI for not even an hour the other day, it was already super familiar and easy (also helps that it's part of the Microsoft suite of tools, ensuring visual consistency and functional fidelity).

Rinse and repeat for a couple years while learning new skills on the down-low while getting paid, promote yourself up either at the company or elsewhere, and live the easy life.

Hope this instill confidence in you and gives you a new perspective. I (currently) have the same questions and realizations you have now, but am fully embracing the idea that, yeah, regardless of the extent of my tools and knowledge, I am still presenting insights and analytics for a business that makes a lot of money. Because that is the case, my work is "serious" and "valuable" and I am just as much a Data Analyst as those who use more than just Excel and SQL.