Quote Originally Posted by torakun View Post
Maybe part of it is actually the leveling.. i feel rushed, because everyone is already too high level and I am WAAAAYYY BEHIND.
That is your problem - at least one part of it. Don't rush. No need to "catch up". Try to play and enjoy the game as it is, and ignore the fact that there is a whole bunch more to do.

If you hadn't even reached level 50 the first time around there is a lot of the ARR MSQ that you haven't seen yet.
Of course, the fact that you actually have been through part of it before can make it hard to keep up the excitement, but I know that if it had been 5+ years since I went through that content last my memory of it would be quite fuzzy and in need of refreshment.

Doing PotD to level your main job isn't something I would recommend - it gets very repetitive and boring after a while. The MSQ+sidequests+some roulettes should give you more than enough XP to level up, and also gives you all the gear you need while leveling.