Hello, OP!
Welcome to FF14! As everyone said, early on the game is a bit of a lull. However, I can suggest making a party finder and state you are doing MSQ and would like company. Maybe having someone to chat with will break the monotone? Have you considered joining an FC? However beware of spoilers!

Other than that, do take breaks, try othr jobs, try gathering too. Sadly, yes a lot of the fun content is story gated so you do need to push through. Story gets much better and better paced after ARR.
Good luck!