Just spent 4 hours working on a somewhat complex restructuring of my current project that, when boiled down totals about 50 new or modified lines.

While I realize that line count != productivity, all the testing and reworking over that period has me feeling like there should be more to show for it.

But then, there's the fact that it's working properly as it's supposed to now, so I guess it's a win in the end.

I have the same weird feeling when I refactor sometimes.
It starts with the good idea and the huge benefit i envision but boils down to so much work. I finish the refactoring and hoipefully everything works as good as before but I feel having my time wasted.

I try to focus on features and leave refactoring to after having achieved milestones. So to avoid "refactoring" becoming "preoptimization" as we all know is the root of all evil.