Burnout is a serious issue in today’s world, more so in tech, and most so in crypto. We have great resources in the DAO and will continue to talk about this! For example, here are notes by BrianHHough from a wellness meeting led by Emm!
One of the most common ways to experience burnout is by being spread too thin. In The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins tells Gandalf, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” And though he was mostly referring to his age, we have likely all felt this at some time in web3.
Web3 & crypto has been compared to the development of our modern financial & technology systems, but instead of taking 100 years, it is happening in 20 years. There’s too much going on, too fast.
DAOs face similarly rapid growth following the technology. There’s too much to do, too much to accomplish.
How do we find success as a DAO?
We are successful with the focused, decentralized efforts of everyone. The first step is in accepting that you cannot be involved with everything. I’ve always liked the quote - “whole-ass one thing instead of half-assing everything.”
First Things First
Peter Drucker said that the secret of high achievers was that they did “first things first.” They could see the highest priority item and focus exclusively on it until completion.
Focus as a defense to burnout
There are many causes of burnout, and someone can be focused while still burning out. However, often when we are not as focused as we should be, we burnout quickly. It takes more effort to pay attention to everything than to be focused on one thing.
Focusing is a defense. You say no to things, trusting it will be the focus of other members.
Saying No in a DAO
It’s pretty tough to say no in a DAO. You feel like you are letting people down. But you can correctly frame this by letting the other members know your priority.
DAOs need members to self-assign focus even more than a traditional organization. There’s no hierarchy to assign it for you.
A Call for Focus!
As you move forward, think about where your focused efforts should be. Communicate with others, and disclose your focus! We will continue to see more progress through distributed, focused action. And best of all, we will be less susceptible to burnout!
