It’s so obvious to me that creativity and productivity have an incredibly important, and delicate, relationship. Too much creative energy without demands for productivity can cause creative blocks and fixation; the idea expands too far too fast, and it doesn’t end up coming to life in the physical world. Too little creative energy with high demands for productivity ends up just suck the fun out of the process; without play, with high expectations, it’s just labor. Some other interesting points, from a couple of academic papers:

• Productivity alone can’t guarantee high impact work, but high-impact scientists increased productivity nearly 3x during their careers.
• Total lifetime output is the single most important factor of a creator’s long-term influence.

The trick is managing yourself, and your inner chaotic and structural sides, through the ebbs and flows of life:

• Getting back on the wagon once you’ve been out of the creative process for a time.
• Summoning the courage to release a piece of work you feel uncertain about.
• Asking friends for help to start a positive self-fulfilling prophecy. Showing your work and getting people to believe in you.

In order to be a creative person, whether you end up showing someone or not, you need to create and complete work. The saying goes, real artists ship.