Web3 Industry Survival Guide: 5 Ways to Prevent Burnout and Combat Depression
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Web3 Industry Survival Guide: 5 Ways to Prevent Burnout and Combat Depression
"Your body is more valuable than you think."
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor | Beichen
It feels like the topic Web3 folks discussed most last week was depression...
This industry really is more exhausting than others, because it constantly delivers rollercoaster-like, high-intensity emotional experiences that force you to stay "forever young, forever tearful"—while also demanding constant attention to cutting-edge knowledge and insider information, or else you'll lose talking points for the next few days.
So in the eyes of outsiders, Web3 professionals living a relaxed life hopping between cafes and Wi-Fi hotspots are actually the ultimate evolved form of office drudges—burning out unpredictably (since you never know what Web3 will do next) until complete mental exhaustion sets in.
Let's not talk about the Web3 industry this time. Instead, let's discuss how people within Web3 can maintain high energy levels and stay atop the wave (rather than falling off or falling behind)?
While burnout and depression may be hard to fully avoid, death from overwork and clinical depression are entirely preventable. There are already many similar advice posts, but they're almost inevitably "impossible missions," unless you're an exceptionally disciplined person.
Below are five practical, highly effective, and painless solutions compiled by "Screeching Whistle" (with the fifth being the most powerful). Fellow sufferers, please take note!
1. Follow Your Circadian Rhythm
Because there's no morning打卡to deal with, Web3 digital nomads stay up much later than average office workers.
There's a naive and arrogant belief that as long as you sleep eight hours and keep a regular schedule, you're fine—completely ignoring circadian rhythms present in everything from bacteria and plants to mammals. Unless you've genetically edited yourself, don't fight biological patterns forged over hundreds of millions of years. Following your body's natural clock is the most basic prerequisite for sustained energy and emotional stability.
We don't need to force ourselves to sleep by 10 PM, but we should avoid being wide awake at 2 or 3 AM. Otherwise, the risk of sudden death and depression rises linearly over time. Often it's not that we don't want to sleep—it's that we can't. Fortunately, two highly effective methods exist for solving insomnia: sunlight exposure and body temperature rhythm.
1. Expose Your Retinas to More Sunlight
Our circadian rhythm is encoded in our genes, aligning closely with Earth’s 24-hour rotation cycle primarily because light governs circadian calibration (with temperature, diet, and sound playing auxiliary roles).
Note: Sunlight exposure doesn't conflict with sun protection. The goal is to allow retinas to absorb sufficient daylight, which suppresses melatonin production and keeps you alert. Melatonin only begins secreting in dim lighting, prompting sleep. If you lack daytime sunlight, melatonin starts too early and gets depleted by night, making it hard to fall asleep.
That’s why after driving all afternoon—or even just lying on the beach—you sleep deeply despite minimal physical or mental exertion.
2. Increase Body Temperature Fluctuation
Although light primarily regulates circadian rhythm, body temperature changes also play a significant role. You feel more alert and energetic when body temperature rises, and drowsy and fatigued when it drops.
So daytime exercise and sun exposure raise body temperature, boosting alertness and enabling faster cooling at night, leading to higher sleep quality (a drop in core body temperature is necessary for entering deep sleep).
Other easy ways to increase temperature fluctuation include hot baths and using air conditioning in summer.
2. Stay in Motion
The nature of Web3 work means nerves constantly toggle between relaxation and tension—a pattern that boosts real productivity. The body works similarly: it thrives on switching between stillness and movement.
Now, if I suggest regular exercise, that would be cliché—and likely ineffective, since it goes against human nature and is hard to sustain.
But you don’t need heavy weights or intense workouts. Intermittent light exercise that raises your heart rate to 120 bpm—even just walking—is sufficient. You’ll immediately feel refreshed.
In short, moving intermittently activates blood flow from your body to your brain and muscles—an evolutionary adaptation from ancient hunting and gathering. Behavioral medicine studies show that walking for just one minute every hour lowers blood pressure by 5%.
Countless psychology experiments prove that walking significantly boosts creativity—it’s practically a mode of production.
3. Interact With the Real World
Web3 nomads spend most of their time online. While not quite the Matrix-level virtual reality, spending most waking hours (especially attention) in digital spaces easily leads to anxiety—so quickly rebuild your connection to the real world.
1. Dine In When Possible
Food delivery is convenient, but it traps us in front of screens—even during meals, eyes glued to displays. Just stop ordering delivery. Walk to a nearby restaurant; at least it forces interaction with real people in real environments.
2. Meet Living People
Digital-world-dwelling Web3 nomads often live in near-isolation in physical reality. Try meeting real-life friends and chatting in relaxed settings. This need exists even for introverts—it just varies in capacity.
You could even go alone to a trendy store or street just to soak in the atmosphere—it helps reestablish your sense of reality.
3. Immerse Yourself in Nature
Psychology experiments show students who rest in parks perform better on cognitive tasks than those in urban areas—even viewing images of nature versus cities yields significant differences.
4. Biannual Health Checkups
The importance of health checkups might seem obvious to Web3 nomads—after all, commercial clinics are full of post-95s—but it cannot be overstated! No medical intervention is cheaper than preventive screening.
Most internal diseases strike suddenly but develop over long periods. Early detection is entirely possible. In very early stages, abnormal indicators often don’t require medication—just lifestyle adjustments in diet and exercise per medical advice.
If you’re already feeling discomfort, the disease has already taken hold… Early detection enables early treatment. Even if healthy, peace of mind is priceless.
5. Dietary Supplements
This is the most impactful recommendation in this article for preventing sudden death and fighting depression! Simple and fast-acting (just place an order—though specific product details require your own research).
There are usually two opposing myths about nutritional supplements.
Extreme supporters believe supplements can replace regular diets or even medications—after all, human-required nutrients are limited. This applies middle-school biology to clinical practice. It's not entirely wrong, but reflects misunderstandings born from knowledge gaps.
Extreme opponents call them scams or claim side effects, believing regular diets suffice and illnesses should be treated at hospitals. Again, applying middle-school biology to clinical practice—but arriving at the opposite conclusion.
Dietary supplements can’t fully replace food, but most people’s diets aren’t perfect either. Plus, nutrient consumption and synthesis rates vary across lifestyles.
Below are supplement recommendations tailored for Web3 nomads under chronic stress and depression (e.g., those living a relaxed 9-to-5 wouldn’t need these as urgently). These ingredients have been tested through rigorous trials—randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group designs—with mature evidence on efficacy and safety. Given Web3 researchers’ capabilities, feel free to expand this list further.
Note: After prolonged use of daily supplements, the original dosage may create metabolic burden—consider reducing intake accordingly.
1. Coenzyme Q10: Heart Power
Highly recommended for Web3 digital nomads living across global time zones. Why could you pull all-nighters at 20 without issues, but struggle as you age? One key reason: CoQ10 levels in heart muscle peak at age 20 and decline after 25.
Cellular energy conversion depends on CoQ10. If mitochondria are power plants inside cells, CoQ10 is the conveyor belt delivering fuel—especially vital for high-energy organs like the heart.
Thus, CoQ10 levels correlate strongly with heart failure severity. Mild deficiency causes chest tightness and fatigue; moderate leads to palpitations and angina; severe deficiency risks sudden death. All chronic night-owls should consider supplementation.
No need to worry about side effects—it’s not a hormone but a vitamin-like substance. Taken within safe doses, it’s as harmless as taking vitamins.
2. Multivitamins: Rescue for Picky Eaters
Vitamins are a group of trace organic compounds essential for normal physiological functions, each deficiency causing specific symptoms.
Regular diets provide some vitamins, but given Web3 digital nomads’ lifestyles and eating habits, additional supplementation is needed (e.g.,熬夜increases vitamin depletion—untreated, this leads to acne, mouth ulcers, etc.).
Daily multivitamin pills are most convenient, covering most essential vitamins and often including minerals and trace elements (in moderate amounts). Hardcore nutrition enthusiasts can customize blends based on real-time needs.
Note: Vitamins aren’t “the more, the better.” Excess intake isn’t absorbed and burdens liver and kidneys.
3. Fish Oil: From Cardiovascular Health to Hair
Fish oil’s key active components are EPA and DHA—Omega-3 fatty acids, essential fats critical for cardiovascular health.
Unless you eat at least two fish servings weekly (boiled, grilled, etc.), you’re likely deficient—explaining why Eskimos and fishermen worldwide rarely suffer heart disease despite low fruit/vegetable intake.
The strongest argument for fish oil? Pets. For pet owners, when cats or dogs have dull, thinning fur, fish oil quickly restores shine and thickness…
Hundreds of fish oil brands exist. Different people value Omega-3 content and price differently—choose reputable brands within your budget.
4. PQQ: Clear Brain Fog
PQQ is another coenzyme. While CoQ10 transports energy within mitochondria, PQQ directly stimulates mitochondrial growth—so they’re often taken together.
CoQ10 most directly boosts heart muscle function. PQQ focuses more on repairing and generating nerve cells, with clearer cognitive benefits—preventing dementia, enhancing memory. The most noticeable effect is clearing brain fog (difficulty concentrating, slow reactions, etc.).
Brain fog largely results from excessive free radical buildup in brain cells. PQQ stimulates neural repair and growth, clearing free radicals and improving learning and memory.
5. NMN: Anti-Aging
NMN (β-nicotinamide mononucleotide), the new star in anti-aging, once had single bottles priced in the thousands, even spawning NMN-themed stocks.
NMN belongs to common vitamin B3 (including niacin and nicotinamide). It doesn’t directly participate in metabolism but converts into coenzyme NAD+, involved in nearly every cellular process (energy production, damage repair, metabolism, tissue regeneration)—and declines with age.
However, NAD+ molecules are too large for efficient absorption. So instead, smaller precursors (like niacin, nicotinamide) are supplemented, then synthesized (or broken down) into NAD+ in the body. NMN is the best NAD+ precursor, so supplementing NMN helps maintain cellular vitality and may even reverse cellular aging.
However, note: if you already have cancer cells, high NAD+ levels might accelerate tumor growth. Also, some users report increased appetite due to boosted metabolism after NMN supplementation, leading to weight gain…
6. Amino Acid Complex: Rapid Recovery
Amino acid supplements are mostly used by fitness enthusiasts for energy and muscle recovery—but they benefit ordinary people too.
Supplementing amino acids is essentially supplementing protein, since dietary proteins are broken down by digestive enzymes into 24 basic amino acids, then reassembled into specific proteins (over 50,000 types).
As we age, digestive enzyme secretion decreases, reducing efficiency in breaking proteins into amino acids—leading to lower protein utilization. So supplementing protein doesn’t guarantee absorption. We must supplement both dietary protein and amino acids.
Also, compared to protein powder, amino acid supplements place less burden on the liver.
7. Magnesium, Zinc & Ashwagandha: Mood Regulation
Web3 workers’ mental health risks aren’t just depression—they’re prone to bipolar disorder, alternating between depressive and manic episodes…
Bipolar disorder involves alternating periods of elevated mood and high energy with low mood and extreme fatigue. For example, Wang Huilwen, who months ago was passionately building large models, recently fell into depression—a classic case of bipolar disorder (not simple depression).
Bipolar disorder requires medical treatment, but prevention is possible. Beyond fish oil, vitamins, and amino acids, adequate magnesium and zinc help balance stress-related hormones like adrenaline and cortisol.
Additionally, certain plant compounds aid mood regulation, such as ashwagandha (active ingredient: withanolides).
8. Curcumin: Alcohol Relief & Liver Protection
Curcumin is a key ingredient in many hangover remedies, offering clear liver protection (may not boost alcohol tolerance, but greatly reduces discomfort).
However, curcumin’s benefits are mostly anecdotal, lacking definitive clinical evidence.
Summary
Note: Many supplements contain overlapping ingredients, risking overdose. When taking multiple supplements, adjust dosages accordingly.
Recommended choices: prioritize products with Chinese drug approval codes (e.g., CoQ10, nicotinamide B3). Otherwise, choose reputable brands with safer, more reliable manufacturing. Feel free to add other effective supplements and related info.
Conclusion
For Web3 digital nomads enduring chronic burnout and depression, this article presents five practical, effective, and painless solutions.
1. Follow Your Circadian Rhythm. This is the foundational requirement for sustained energy and emotional stability. Highly effective methods: maximize retinal sunlight exposure and increase body temperature fluctuations.
2. Stay in Motion. No need for heavy weights or intense training—intermittent light exercise raising heart rate to 120 bpm, or even just walking, suffices. You’ll instantly feel revitalized.
3. Interact With the Real World. Rebuild your real-world connection via: 1. Dining in; 2. Meeting people; 3. Immersing in nature.
4. Biannual Health Checkups. Nothing beats checkups for cost-effective healthcare. Early detection, early treatment. Even if healthy, get peace of mind.
5. Dietary Supplements. 1. CoQ10—essential for chronic night-owls; 2. Multivitamins—rescue for picky eaters; 3. Fish oil—protects heart and hair; 4. PQQ—clears brain fog; 5. NMN—anti-aging; 6. Amino acid complex—rapid recovery; 7. Magnesium, zinc & ashwagandha—mood regulation; 8. Curcumin—alcohol relief and liver protection.
Finally, a speculative question—yesterday, Keep listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a market cap of HK$159.28 billion, while StepN, down 95% from its peak, still holds a valuation of HK$1.95 billion.
If StepN’s narrative—“your steps are more valuable than you think”—holds true, could we launch a Web3 health project? After all, “your body is more valuable than you think,” and supplement experiences are even more tangible, with equally low barriers to entry.
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