The difference between energizing and burnout skills

Energizing skills are activities that energize and motivate you, while burnout skills are activities that drain your energy and contribute to feelings of burnout.

Energizing skills are often related to your strengths, passions, and values. They are activities that you find enjoyable and meaningful, and that give you a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Engaging in energizing skills can help you feel energized, motivated, and productive.

It’s very important to note that just because you’re GOOD at something doesn’t mean it’s energizing. There are likely plenty of things you’re capable of which also feel like a total slog if you have to do them all day.

Burnout skills, on the other hand, are activities that you may find tedious, frustrating, or unfulfilling. They may be outside of your strengths or areas of interest, and may require a lot of effort and energy to complete. Engaging in burnout skills can lead to feelings of exhaustion, frustration, and disillusionment, and can contribute to burnout.

When working with your clients and customers aim to help them see the difference between these two skillsets. If they are in a role that feels aligned to their strengths and values but they’re still talking about how burned out they are at the end of each day, it’s possible they’re spending far too much time engaged in burnout skills.

Try to help your clients find a balance between energizing skills and burnout skills, and to prioritize energizing skills as much as possible. Ideally they’re spending 80% of their time engaged in activities they find energizing.

The skills section of YouMap gives very specific language to the tasks your client would enjoy doing more or less of. They can use this information both to filter job opportunities AND when advocating for their career path within a company or organization.