The tech industry is fast-paced and plugged in 24/7. And while Web3 represents a new era of values in tech, it’s not immune to the sector’s notorious grind culture.
Landing a coveted role in Web3 can provide a rush of energy, a sense of security, and the desire to rise to the top. You feel like you’re a part of creating the future. Your team members all feel the same.
But quickly, your work day may start to feel neverending. There’s always something new to learn, constant information updates and unannounced airdrops. Unlike the stock market, the crypto markets never close. Half of the battle is keeping up with Crypto Twitter, which has also begun to take on major changes with Elon Musk’s noisy takeover.
You find yourself turning on the computer as soon as you roll out of bed each morning. Working overtime is no longer a once-in-a-while thing. It has become routine. Soon you’re feeling overwhelmed, tired and unmotivated.
You realize: You’re feeling burnt out.
According to the National Library of Medicine, the term burnout was coined in the 1970s by American Psychologist Herbert Freudenberger. The term was first used to describe a state of high stress seen amongst individuals in “helping professions”, like doctors, nurses, or other caregivers. The symptoms of burnout include:
Burnout is usually referred to as symptoms that are work-related. Because Web3 is an expanding field that is creating the next digital frontier, it can feel like you have to be constantly present or you’re going to miss out. Though Web3 is not a traditional “helping profession,” many Web3 communities are socially-conscious and altruistic in nature. Women and non-binary Web3 professionals especially may notice themselves giving their time and focus to others around them in an effort to create inclusive spaces.
That’s not to say, however, that we should stop being inclusive or altruistic as we build Web3. Instead, we can create structures that support our important work. One of the main reasons people experience burnout in the tech industry is a lack of boundaries.
“Always saying yes to projects or work tasks that are not going to advance your career because you want to seem like a team player is one cause,” said Dr. Carey Yazeed, a behavioral scientist focusing on work culture research. This may look like making yourself available on Slack or Notion 24/7, taking a call at late hours or being on the phone during a family dinner, she explained.
Other causes for burnout are a lack of self-care, not taking time off to relax or spend time with family, an inability to ask for help and feeling as if you have to do the work alone.
“Sometimes people are afraid to ask for help,” Dr. Yazeed said. “They feel like they have to do it all by themselves, like they’re the only ones that can do it. They might come across as a team player but they will still micromanage, which isn’t healthy either. That means there are some trust issues too.”
Being a minority in any space can accelerate feelings of burnout, a phenomenon that women and non-binary people in tech may be all too familiar with.
In 2020, The Anita Borg Institute studied 51 companies, 501,384 technologists, and 133,068 women technologists to uncover that women held only 28.8% of tech roles. Because women are underrepresented, they may have to fight for a seat at the table or to be heard, even when they are overqualified for a role.
“There are tech biases, especially with women where there is a gender bias and a feeling of being excluded,” said Dr. Yazeed. “There is an emotional toll in trying to figure out how to fit in and how to be accepted.”
Not to mention, said Dr. Yazeed, gaslighting can be pervasive. Bosses, whether intentionally or not, may make comments which make those in a minority position second-guess their qualifications or right to be there. This imposter syndrome can make someone fixate on how to be better or prove they are right, making the work day feel like a battleground.
“They don’t realize they are the right person for the job, it’s just that their company doesn’t appreciate them,” said Dr. Yazeed.
There is also such a thing as racial gaslighting, which impacts everyone in Web3, but particularly women and non-binary people of color. A common example is a co-worker or colleague making an insensitive comment and instisting it is just a joke, according to SoVonna Day-Goins of WomenXMeta, a platform focused on educating and restoring power to womxn and people of color in Web3.
“Many people think racial gaslighting sounds like [the argument that] we live in a post-racial society,” said Day-Goins, adding that a gaslighter might tell someone to stop being “so sensitive” when they respond negatively to an inappropriate joke.
“This is traumatizing enough,” Goins said. “But what it really leads to is Black women’s mental exhaustion, toxic positivity and performative acts of kindness that many of our white female friends feel compelled to exhibit.”
In the Web3 space, we are already starting to see signs of systemic inequality from Web2’s corporate culture replicating themselves. In late 2021, Bloomberg reported that prices for dark-skinned CryptoPunks were priced lower on average than the collection’s lighter-skinned NFTs. Collectors said the price disparity doesn’t result from racism, but rather that most investors are white and people prefer to pay more for avatars that look like them. Nonetheless, all of the 32 biggest crypto companies in the world have male CEOs, according to the Forex Crypto Diversity Report.
Web3’s lack of diversity — both perceived and tangible — means that those with diverse backgrounds will often have to work harder to be seen, heard, valued and fit in. This leads to more work, heightened fear of setting boundaries and, often, educating their teammates at the cost of their own personal energy and health.
Whether working in tech or working remotely, individuals spend most of their time in front of a screen. Even if they focus on work tasks most of the time, the habit is still there to check social media, browse through online shopping, and watch YouTube videos. Many of which give us a quick dopamine fix.
“Social media and other highly stimulating entertainment like Netflix and video games act like dopamine loops. By the time you unglue your attention from the screen, the chemicals that would usually motivate you have been depleted and you’re left with little energy to do anything else,” said burnout coach, Anna Romanovska.
Unplugging is therefore key to preventing burnout: “This is super important for people in tech to realize — you can't work and rest in front of the screen,” said Romanovska.
It might be hard, but spending quality time away from the glaring lit screen could save you from months of burnout, lost wages, and creative wastelands. Josh Gordon, host of The Unstoppable Podcast, says he spends his weekends outdoors in order to recharge.
If you have doubts, keeping a journal of how you feel once you minimize screen time can be beneficial. Seeing how your mood and energy levels improve in real time might be just the trick to motivate you.
Davina Jones is a 25-year-old woman who battled Web3 burnout firsthand, twice. She describes to BFF her experience:
The first time was when I started grinding for allowlist spots. It was my job to join so many Discord servers, some of them with lots of channels. As time went on I had multiple messages coming into my DMs every minute. I would also have to keep up with the Discord channels. Sometimes the community managers had to activate slow mode in Discords.
Davina says she didn’t know what was happening to her at the time, but looking back it was clearly burnout. She began feeling overwhelmed, having to stay awake for long hours in order to ensure an allowlist spot, only to crash the next day.
The second time I experienced burnout was while I was looking for work in Web3. I would be on Twitter getting notifications for job openings and spending my entire day doing what I could to apply. I would feel accomplished only to receive another notification. I would look back on my day and realize I had no real level of productivity and that Twitter notifications were taking over.
In order to combat burnout Davina decided to take care of herself first. She limited her time in Discord and began working on creating a more focused professional portfolio to make her job search more efficient.
I began building my portfolio better. I also niched down on the kind of jobs I was looking for. Instead of applying for any job, I decided to apply only for positions where my skills were a direct match. I also took some time to rest and care for my health and avoid conversations around whitelisting and grinding, as they just reminded me of my burnout experience.
What’s An Allowlist? Read BFF's Web3 Glossary For All The Terms You Need To Know
Even though cyber innovation never stops, that doesn’t mean you have to stay on the rollercoaster all the time. Here’s a recap on how to jump off when you need to:
Carlee is a content writer and copywriter working in the Web3 space. Connect with her on Twitter @punchingthekeys
This article and all the information in it does not constitute financial advice. If you don’t want to invest money or time in Web3, you don’t have to. As always: Do your own research.
