The Secret To Shipping Creative Work Without Burning Out

Are you a crafter or a creative?

Chefs are masters of their craft. Day after day they show up and they replicate tried and true recipes and techniques. Most of the time they are simply practicing their craft. Assembling the same dishes with precision day after day.

From the outside, it looks like creative work. But it’s actually craftwork.

Sure they have moments of creativity when they are creating new menus and trying out new recipes. But in the busyness of service, they are relying on crafter energy, not their creative brain.

Creative energy is essentially an uphill task. It takes long stretches of time and thought and energy to come up with new ideas and creative ways of doing things. Most new creators think they need to constantly be creating, but that’s a surefire way to burn out.

To consistently ship creative work, you actually need more crafter energy than creative energy.

You see the magic of longevity is in crafter energy. Crafter energy takes less mental work. You already know what you’re creating, you know how to ‘plate it up’ and you work at it day in and day out to perfect the process. You become a master at your craft.

Creative energy has a powerful momentum. It’ might take just one spark of creative energy to get to the top of the hill. But you can’t rely on that energy daily. It quickly runs out. Crafter energy is longer lasting. Once you get to the top of the hill your crafter energy will propel you back down the other side.

If you want to ‘plate up’ creative work daily, learn to use the magic of crafters energy.

This Essay First appeared on evchapman.com