Frequently Asked Questions
What is a personal energy audit?
A personal energy audit maps your recurring weekly activities by their energy impact, skill alignment, and time investment. Based on job crafting research (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001), it reveals which activities drain you and which energize you, so you can make targeted changes to how you spend your work week.
How do I know which work activities drain my energy?
The Energy Mapper asks you to rate each activity on energy impact (-2 to +2), skill level (1-5), and hours per week. Activities that score low on energy and skill but consume significant hours are your biggest energy leaks. The tool visualizes this in a four-zone landscape: Genius Zone, Growth Zone, Delegate Zone, and Eliminate Zone.
What is job crafting?
Job crafting is the proactive process of reshaping your role to better align with your strengths, interests, and values. Research by Wrzesniewski and Dutton (2001) identified three forms: task crafting (changing what you do), relationship crafting (changing who you interact with), and cognitive crafting (changing how you think about your work).
Why did I lose motivation at work?
According to Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), motivation depends on three psychological needs: autonomy (choice in how you work), competence (growth and mastery), and relatedness (genuine connection to others). When one or more of these needs is unmet, motivation declines. The Motivation Diagnosis tool identifies which need is starving.
What is Self-Determination Theory?
Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is a framework by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan showing that intrinsic motivation depends on three basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and relatedness. When these needs are satisfied, people experience greater engagement, performance, and well-being. When they are frustrated, motivation shifts from intrinsic to extrinsic to amotivation.
What is Psychological Capital (PsyCap)?
Psychological Capital is a framework by Luthans et al. (2007) measuring four internal resources known as HERO: Hope (pathways thinking), Efficacy (task-specific confidence), Resilience (recovery from setbacks), and Optimism (belief that effort connects to outcomes). Higher PsyCap predicts better job performance, satisfaction, and well-being.
What is the difference between burnout and low motivation?
Burnout is energy depletion — you are exhausted and have no reserves. Low motivation is need deprivation — one or more psychological needs (autonomy, competence, relatedness) is unmet. You can be burned out but motivated (exhausted but care deeply), or unmotivated but not burned out (rested but disengaged). The Energy Mapper diagnoses energy problems. The Motivation Diagnosis identifies need gaps.
What is cognitive crafting?
Cognitive crafting is changing the cognitive boundaries of your work — how you perceive and interpret what you do — to alter meaning and identity. Originated from Wrzesniewski & Dutton’s (2001) study of hospital cleaners: same prescribed job, radically different experiences of meaning. Cognitive crafting predicts work meaning more strongly than task crafting and requires no permission, budget, or manager buy-in.
What is the Work as Meaning Inventory?
The Work as Meaning Inventory (WAMI) is a validated research instrument by Steger, Dik & Duffy (2012) that measures three facets of meaningful work: positive meaning (day-to-day significance), meaning-making through work (personal growth and understanding), and greater good motivation (contributing beyond oneself). The Meaning Reframe Lab uses these three facets as its diagnostic foundation.
What if none of the reframes feel genuine?
That is the most important finding the tool can give you. If three evidence-based reframe techniques all feel forced, that is a fit signal, not a failure of imagination. The tool then runs a craftability check to assess whether the raw materials for meaning exist in your role. Sometimes the honest answer is: the problem is the role, not your framing.