If your account has enough character slots available for your server, hold on to your current character, and try starting a new one as well.

That way, if starting over doesn't keep the appeal, you still have your original character to return to.

As for crafting and gathering, they can be time sinks, but there are options in-game to boost exp gain, and you can make a fair amount of gil by selling some of the things you can gather or craft, so it can be worth it. However, you'll still need to progress through the story, or your gathering will be limited to ARR areas.