I just get too overwhelmed if I have any important life things and can’t start working on a hobby project because I’m too afraid I wouldn’t have the time to finish it or that it might hurt my real obligations. I’ve never been able to balance these two.
Having a physical separation of where I “work” and where I spend time on hobbies is the main thing that helps me. That and dedicating a fixed amount of time in a day to one specific thing. I find that having a strict time commitment for one thing allows me to plan the rest of the day accordingly instead of becoming overwhelmed by thinking of all the things that need to be done without having a starting point.
It’s also ok to put hobbies on hold if you have more urgent matters that need your full attention. Setbacks are a part of life. Picking up after a break is better than not even having started.