How does everyone find Time/Inspiration/Energy?

Reading this thread has been great and given me ideas myself. My responsibilities are alot less than some, but even I find things a little overwhelming at times with:

-A recently bought, but old house I'm living it. Obviously, it needs work (kitchen, bathroom, garden, drop kerb for driveway (I don't have a DK despite having a driveway) and of course, the garage
-2 old cars. No, sorry, one is not new. It's old. Simple as
-Maintaining my parents cars. Not doing my sister's as well is a big help, and I deliberately don't do my sister's anymore
-Family commitments ; parents insist on me seeing them quite a bit (to be fair, my dad needs help since Covid, due to lack of energy and tiredness compared to before now)
-Work : For me to own my house at below the average house price by quite a way (around 1/2), I need a reasonable paying job. That's an unfortunate reality for many at my age without a decent deposit or inheritence to fall on, as I know a few folks off here struggle with, including a certain charmful Welshman. Part-time unfortunately is not an option for me, unless I go back to living at home again, or I move somewhere where I can buy a house with space/facilities for cars which costs around £60-70k (then you are away from your family/friends and potentially less job opportunities).

My list isn't as bad as some frankly, but I can see why folks I know sometimes wish they had a new house and a new daily driver, as the time simply adds up and up.

I do admire folks who have 3+ cars and keep them going. When I had 3 cars, I did struggle, and at times, some did cause issues. It also limited me from buying cars I really wanted. Working from home in a Hybrid way and having a motorbike have helped here.

I would say not to ditch the gym however. With my back, I struggle with working on cars at times, and since I caught the dreaded bug, my joints ache alot more than they used to (at one point, walking was a problem as both knees decided they didn't want to play ball), and I really have to watch myself unless I want to be paralysed in pain for around a day with strong painkillers. Exercise for me has really helped there. I always struggle to do it at times, but I never regret it.

Back to the cars, but here's my opinion. You can probably break this down into 3 areas:

Assessment
-Be honest with what your projects are and how much the state of them matters to you. House may be one, if you don't shell out for DIY, it will always take time. It may be the garage for example (it is for me ; a dusty floor won't make for great working when cleanliness is required around a car (i.e gearbox service)). Since most of my dailies for years have needed work in one for or another (oil change, brake fluid etc.) that's a project as well, albeit not as demanding as some.

-On the above point, if you have a car older than 8 years old without a dealer warranty, and it rarely sees the garage as you want to spanner on your own cars, that is a project. It may not be to many folks, but since it's something you are maintaining and investing time in, it is a project. OK, let's make it 12 years old. The sooner I did this, the easier it is manage the cars. That oil change is time. Brake pads are time. Niggles here and there to sort are time. Leaving them will just make the car seem curse word and more daunting when you actually need to fix the cars. Cars always need work, it's a fact of life really. If you don't want that, I'd either lease when cheap cars come about again or get something with a dealer warranty (i.e VAG or BMW). Garages IME are something tricky to depend on, especially if you outsource the daily work to them:
:They fall into 2 or 3 camps IME. Either can fit you in but break three things for the 1 you took in to fix
:2nd way is they charge quite a bit of the work, but not do it quite right
:3rd is finding a guy who takes his time and does it right as you would, but booking them can be unreliable, especially if you have a sudden breakdown. For things like oil changes and brakes etc, that can be planned/managed in time

-Be honest with what other hobbies and commitments you have ; i.e where your time is invested. Mountain biking, climbing, gym, socialising with friends, family time, DIY, you name it. If you don't like doing it but need to do it (e.g family stuff at times) accept it can't be moved. If you don't like it (gym, biking, meeting folks for a drink in the pub etc.) cut it out. It's not healthy

-On the honesty bits, be honest if your daily is suitable for you. For me, living with a coupe car as a daily car is OK, but it does catch me out enough to warrant a hatchback or estate. I prefer estates so they will remain a daily of choice for me.

Planning
-With this, debate clearing out the cars which realistically, will take away funds from your pride and joy(s). It's a difficult one but needs must. It's one reason why my ST220 has gone, despite it being a dependable steed

-Get the tools you need and don't waste time 'making do'. I'm not referring to socket sets, but specialist tools which you may need for a car, depending on the work you'll do. For me, it's INPA diagnostics for the BMWs, Bearing pullers which are way handier than you think, Ballpen hammer for all sorts (not just a claw one), reciprocating saw for things which just won't undo (these come in handy for garden work too ), and a brake bleeder as I do change the brake fluid regularly enough, and have been bitten a couple of times doing brake bleeds the 2-person way . By this I mean ruined master cylinders for those wondering, and having someone competent to follow through how to bleed brakes this way can be hard, even with car guys!; My sister can help me bleed brakes better than some guys I know who will just lift the pedal at moments with gay abandon! Annoying? You bet! It will make life much easier for doing those 'regular' tasks, especially where you have a regular churn of cars

-Make a list. This may be a Roadkill-esque cardboard list. With me, I use my phone and a handy reminder section. A friend of mine who is busy but does alot with cars has done this for years. If a task for the car pops into my head and I don't want to forget it, I make a note of it. I'll forget otherwise. This way, I know exactly what the projects all need

Doing:

-The mojo may be lacking, but chip away at the cars. Recently, I discovered that it's a fallacy to thing I need time to do things in big chunks. Alot is achieved in smaller chunks, it just doesn't seem that way until that task or the project comes to completion. Like this the mojo will come and go, and when it comes, it will come in well IME. You also chip a little bit of work off for the next time. This was the only way I got my M3 roadworthy last year, doing what many consider a big job on it (rear brake lines, which is a fuel tank off job and in an ideal world, subframe off too)

-Put things and tools away. For me, this is a mojo killer, I've discovered, or maybe I'm just like James May. Spending 30 minutes trying to find a couple of tools when it would have taken 30 mins just to do the job is frustrating and wasteful. That can be another small task amongst the car working

-Plan on the weather to do things, especially without a garage. Plastics and rubbers will need heat if you want to move. Doing things outside in the rain will be annoying

-Dress up for the work, or dress down. Having cloths aside or overalls for this will help, and make you less annoyed when you do inevitably get an oily hand on your jeans. Having clean stuff will help for not dirtying the white leather seats you spent an age cleaning

Alot of the above is simple and obvious stuff when stated. Typing this out, I fall victim to not doing the above. But IME, following it does help and keep the mojo up overall.