TallyTally wrapped 2025
By the numbers. Featuring Arbitrum, Uniswap, ZKsync and more
TallyKYI and the institutional era of DeFi: building the foundation for trust
A collaboration between Tally and Bluprynt to bring institutional-grade compliance to token launches.
TallyDAO Governance: Challenges, Ideas and Tools
This article was originally published on Medium on May 14th, 2022. It has been republished here with minor updates for clarity.Guest post by Jan Ole Ernst and Simon Sällström of the Oxford Blockchain Society. Jan is pursuing a PhD in Quantum Physics and Simon is pursing an MPhil in Economics.Governance philosophy and challengesDAO’s have profoundly shaken up the web3 landscape, since making headlines in 2016 when funds where drained in the first and original DAO — essentially a decentralized ...
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Burnout in the future of work
In today’s fast-paced work environment, burnout is becoming a hazard employees face with increasing frequency. Though it may provide more employee freedom than traditional employment, contributing to DAOs is not exempt from the challenge of burnout. In fact, Web3, which is currently being used, populated, and built by those with extreme passion, may possibly be even more susceptible to worker burnout due to that very energy and enthusiasm.
In a word — Burnout. “DAO fatigue” (also known as DAO burnout) is simply a common term for DAO contributor-specific burnout, something already plaguing workers globally. Along with the usual risk factors, causes, and symptoms of typical job burnout, there are some additions, more specific to the DAO space.
The World Health Organization describes burnout as a workplace phenomenon characterized by feelings of exhaustion, increased mental distance, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy.
Common causes include:
Abnormal or dysfunctional workplace dynamics
Extreme shifts in types of activity
Lack of Social Support
Work-Life Imbalance
Burnout in the future of work
In today’s fast-paced work environment, burnout is becoming a hazard employees face with increasing frequency. Though it may provide more employee freedom than traditional employment, contributing to DAOs is not exempt from the challenge of burnout. In fact, Web3, which is currently being used, populated, and built by those with extreme passion, may possibly be even more susceptible to worker burnout due to that very energy and enthusiasm.
In a word — Burnout. “DAO fatigue” (also known as DAO burnout) is simply a common term for DAO contributor-specific burnout, something already plaguing workers globally. Along with the usual risk factors, causes, and symptoms of typical job burnout, there are some additions, more specific to the DAO space.
The World Health Organization describes burnout as a workplace phenomenon characterized by feelings of exhaustion, increased mental distance, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy.
Common causes include:
Abnormal or dysfunctional workplace dynamics
Extreme shifts in types of activity
Lack of Social Support
Work-Life Imbalance
Subscribe to Tally
Tally is the platform to launch tokens, raise capital, and scale. Faster, cheaper, and more globally accessible than IPOs or venture rounds.
TallyTally wrapped 2025
By the numbers. Featuring Arbitrum, Uniswap, ZKsync and more
TallyKYI and the institutional era of DeFi: building the foundation for trust
A collaboration between Tally and Bluprynt to bring institutional-grade compliance to token launches.
TallyDAO Governance: Challenges, Ideas and Tools
This article was originally published on Medium on May 14th, 2022. It has been republished here with minor updates for clarity.Guest post by Jan Ole Ernst and Simon Sällström of the Oxford Blockchain Society. Jan is pursuing a PhD in Quantum Physics and Simon is pursing an MPhil in Economics.Governance philosophy and challengesDAO’s have profoundly shaken up the web3 landscape, since making headlines in 2016 when funds where drained in the first and original DAO — essentially a decentralized ...
Share Dialog
It’s important to not confuse burnout with general stress. Stress is the feeling of pressure from taking on too much work, too much responsibility, or being short on time. Burnout is when you feel you don’t have enough motivation, stamina, or energy to accomplish even mundane tasks. A state of lethargy becomes your new normal.
As most DAO contributors tend to spread their efforts across many different organizations, wearing oneself too thin can be especially insidious. The current DAO landscape is primarily populated by passionate and energetic “true believers”. Much like the early internet, the enthusiasm that is the prime mover of the current DAO space can also be a vulnerability.
The first problem can be summed up by a phrase often attributed to Albert Einstein:
“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.”
Though not precisely an accurate explanation of physical relativity, personal time-dilation does seem to be a real experiential phenomenon. The activities we enjoy doing or emphatically believe in rarely feel like work. We perceive time passing most rapidly when doing something we find enjoyable and goal-motivated. This can wreak havoc on our ability to properly estimate goal completion times. This, in turn, can cause DAO contributors to over-commit and over-schedule. The cumulative effect of this can eventually result in a hard crash into DAO fatigue.
Another contributing factor is getting pulled by the overall communal goal, much like attempting to swim through a strong current. DAOs tend to have some direction towards an agreed-upon result, mission, or set of goals. The majority of contributors usually move in the same relative direction to achieve these ends. This can sometimes create a current-like effect, pushing everyone along its flow. Sometimes this results in a positive effect on the whole group, forcing each individual to dig deeper than they thought possible and ultimately persevere. Inversely though, they also often lead to contributors voluntarily overwhelming themselves with a too heavy workload or attempting to work outside of their personal experience, comfort level, and/or given skill set. The outcome of which can be detrimental to the organization as well as the end product.
The biggest and most obvious drivers of DAO fatigue though, are the binary reasons DAO work is so enticing to begin with, ownership and freedom. Contribute to a DAO, even just occasionally, and the culture itself will make you feel ownership. Words like ‘our’, ‘we’, and ‘us’ are uniting symptoms of a mentality of collective ownership. This is a stark contrast to the work experience the vast majority of people are used to. The level of individual ownership most DAOs feel inherently imbued with is a constant motivator to achieve goals. Nobody wants to stay and work late for the ACME corporation but if you personally own the local neighborhood ACME depot, you will work late, come in early, and even work on holidays if necessary. Ownership cultivates a desire to succeed. However, that desire coupled with individual workload freedom can cause anyone to overestimate their own capabilities or the amount of time required to accomplish a task.
Having a highly in-demand skill can also lead to burnout. If there isn’t enough of you to get things done the nature of a goal-oriented organization tends to try to stretch you to be enough anyways. It’s easy to let it and requires discipline to prevent. You’ll likely not even notice as it incrementally pulls you for just a “little more”. Like a lobster in a pot doesn’t feel the gradual increase in temperature until it’s too late. Know the value of your skills and protect yourself accordingly
Contributing to a single DAO can only be as consuming as you allow it but spreading efforts across several DAOs simultaneously can amplify those hazards, as well as increase exhaustion due to the brain switching focus too often. This is not to say multi-DAO contributions should be altogether avoided. It just requires an extra level of awareness. In this instance, I’ve found that narrowing tasks to a smaller bandwidth of skills can help. Sticking with a few of your main talents. This provides a throughline across DAO work while providing the option and flexibility to learn new things along the way.
The best barometer of DAO Fatigue, or any burnout for that matter, is feeling the loss of passion, excitement, and enthusiasm behind your work. The sense of that motivational energy subsiding is a strong indicator you may be taking on too much. Additionally, there are a few other common burnout signs and symptoms to keep an eye out for.
Some of the usual suspects are:
General fatigue
Insomnia
Depression
Quick temper
Irritability
Alcohol or substance abuse
Irregular heartbeat and/or pulse
High blood pressure
The best way to not fall victim to DAO fatigue is to prevent it altogether. Proactively take steps to counter the intense zone we sometimes get sucked into while being productive. Budget your time wisely and stick to your schedule. Another good habit to get into is reevaluating work-related decisions several times over. This is a great way to prevent mistakes, incompatibility issues, overlooking something, etc. Make careful, well-thought-out decisions. Also, it helps to keep work and home life separate. Leave a few quiet minutes alone to make the transition between the two. Try not to cross these by excessively discussing work during home-life time, or vice-versa. Constantly shifting between these can quickly fatigue the brain. Make time for hobbies or other interests. Eat healthy, exercise, unplug, leave time to unwind before bed, and get plenty of solid rest. Plan regular activities with family and/or friends. Personally, I try to watch a movie with my family once a week. It’s something that we all enjoy and provides us with a common touchstone.
In the eventuality you do fall victim, knowing how to recover can lessen the impact and bring back the enjoyment of your work. First, you have to recognize and acknowledge the problem. Then consider taking some time off to relax. Even if it is only a few days, just disconnecting can rapidly improve the situation. After you recover, assess the situation, what factors led to the overload, and how to prevent it from happening again. Map out a plan to handle those factors, make those changes, and stick to your plan. Frontrun the risk of it happening again.
As DAOs attempt to change the landscape of work there will likely be a plethora of new complications that arise. The law of unintended consequences. As new solutions are created and we find ourselves in the future it’s important to not overlook or underestimate the old problems we carry along with us. Burnout is one that we won’t likely shake off anytime soon. If it can’t be totally eradicated, knowing warning signs and how to avoid falling victim to burnout will be a key advantage.
It’s important to not confuse burnout with general stress. Stress is the feeling of pressure from taking on too much work, too much responsibility, or being short on time. Burnout is when you feel you don’t have enough motivation, stamina, or energy to accomplish even mundane tasks. A state of lethargy becomes your new normal.
As most DAO contributors tend to spread their efforts across many different organizations, wearing oneself too thin can be especially insidious. The current DAO landscape is primarily populated by passionate and energetic “true believers”. Much like the early internet, the enthusiasm that is the prime mover of the current DAO space can also be a vulnerability.
The first problem can be summed up by a phrase often attributed to Albert Einstein:
“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours you think it’s only a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove for a minute you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.”
Though not precisely an accurate explanation of physical relativity, personal time-dilation does seem to be a real experiential phenomenon. The activities we enjoy doing or emphatically believe in rarely feel like work. We perceive time passing most rapidly when doing something we find enjoyable and goal-motivated. This can wreak havoc on our ability to properly estimate goal completion times. This, in turn, can cause DAO contributors to over-commit and over-schedule. The cumulative effect of this can eventually result in a hard crash into DAO fatigue.
Another contributing factor is getting pulled by the overall communal goal, much like attempting to swim through a strong current. DAOs tend to have some direction towards an agreed-upon result, mission, or set of goals. The majority of contributors usually move in the same relative direction to achieve these ends. This can sometimes create a current-like effect, pushing everyone along its flow. Sometimes this results in a positive effect on the whole group, forcing each individual to dig deeper than they thought possible and ultimately persevere. Inversely though, they also often lead to contributors voluntarily overwhelming themselves with a too heavy workload or attempting to work outside of their personal experience, comfort level, and/or given skill set. The outcome of which can be detrimental to the organization as well as the end product.
The biggest and most obvious drivers of DAO fatigue though, are the binary reasons DAO work is so enticing to begin with, ownership and freedom. Contribute to a DAO, even just occasionally, and the culture itself will make you feel ownership. Words like ‘our’, ‘we’, and ‘us’ are uniting symptoms of a mentality of collective ownership. This is a stark contrast to the work experience the vast majority of people are used to. The level of individual ownership most DAOs feel inherently imbued with is a constant motivator to achieve goals. Nobody wants to stay and work late for the ACME corporation but if you personally own the local neighborhood ACME depot, you will work late, come in early, and even work on holidays if necessary. Ownership cultivates a desire to succeed. However, that desire coupled with individual workload freedom can cause anyone to overestimate their own capabilities or the amount of time required to accomplish a task.
Having a highly in-demand skill can also lead to burnout. If there isn’t enough of you to get things done the nature of a goal-oriented organization tends to try to stretch you to be enough anyways. It’s easy to let it and requires discipline to prevent. You’ll likely not even notice as it incrementally pulls you for just a “little more”. Like a lobster in a pot doesn’t feel the gradual increase in temperature until it’s too late. Know the value of your skills and protect yourself accordingly
Contributing to a single DAO can only be as consuming as you allow it but spreading efforts across several DAOs simultaneously can amplify those hazards, as well as increase exhaustion due to the brain switching focus too often. This is not to say multi-DAO contributions should be altogether avoided. It just requires an extra level of awareness. In this instance, I’ve found that narrowing tasks to a smaller bandwidth of skills can help. Sticking with a few of your main talents. This provides a throughline across DAO work while providing the option and flexibility to learn new things along the way.
The best barometer of DAO Fatigue, or any burnout for that matter, is feeling the loss of passion, excitement, and enthusiasm behind your work. The sense of that motivational energy subsiding is a strong indicator you may be taking on too much. Additionally, there are a few other common burnout signs and symptoms to keep an eye out for.
Some of the usual suspects are:
General fatigue
Insomnia
Depression
Quick temper
Irritability
Alcohol or substance abuse
Irregular heartbeat and/or pulse
High blood pressure
The best way to not fall victim to DAO fatigue is to prevent it altogether. Proactively take steps to counter the intense zone we sometimes get sucked into while being productive. Budget your time wisely and stick to your schedule. Another good habit to get into is reevaluating work-related decisions several times over. This is a great way to prevent mistakes, incompatibility issues, overlooking something, etc. Make careful, well-thought-out decisions. Also, it helps to keep work and home life separate. Leave a few quiet minutes alone to make the transition between the two. Try not to cross these by excessively discussing work during home-life time, or vice-versa. Constantly shifting between these can quickly fatigue the brain. Make time for hobbies or other interests. Eat healthy, exercise, unplug, leave time to unwind before bed, and get plenty of solid rest. Plan regular activities with family and/or friends. Personally, I try to watch a movie with my family once a week. It’s something that we all enjoy and provides us with a common touchstone.
In the eventuality you do fall victim, knowing how to recover can lessen the impact and bring back the enjoyment of your work. First, you have to recognize and acknowledge the problem. Then consider taking some time off to relax. Even if it is only a few days, just disconnecting can rapidly improve the situation. After you recover, assess the situation, what factors led to the overload, and how to prevent it from happening again. Map out a plan to handle those factors, make those changes, and stick to your plan. Frontrun the risk of it happening again.
As DAOs attempt to change the landscape of work there will likely be a plethora of new complications that arise. The law of unintended consequences. As new solutions are created and we find ourselves in the future it’s important to not overlook or underestimate the old problems we carry along with us. Burnout is one that we won’t likely shake off anytime soon. If it can’t be totally eradicated, knowing warning signs and how to avoid falling victim to burnout will be a key advantage.
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