craigb
1.  Create a list...

The problem is, when you get to the end, how do you create the list to get rid of the list/lists, so you can move on?
 
The only time I wrote something on a schedule, was in school. And my screenplay was the first and last piece to be written on a schedule. From that point on, all my papers, and such were always done in the first week, so I could spend days/weeks looking at it and use it as toilet paper if needed.
 
But even the screenplay, was unusual, and I have always trusted my ability to write something, and I had nothing the night before, and decided to go to bed early and then get up early and write before the sun comes up. Just as I was falling asleep, my dreams sequence/movie started, and voila ... there was the beginning of the screenplay, and I wrote some 40 plus pages, that the class spent 3 hours analyzing to my consternation ... it was what I saw ... it had no meaning except that "I SAW IT", and that was that. But for them it meant the story would be this and that and this and that ... and I have to tell you that I was getting quite annoyed, and didn't feel I needed the ideas, when the dreaming situation would easily play itself out! Which is what I did with the rest of the screenplay.
 
That screenplay is at the Library of Congress and is dedicated to Nicholas Roeg and Theresa Russell, with a large thank you to Luis Bunuel! Sadly, her agent never gave her the screenplay. She would have liked it.

Back in the 1990s, I had a similar problem with screenwriting, trying to find time. Evenings were bad; I was too tired after spending a full day working, two hours in the transit system getting home, cooking a meal, etc.
 
So, I turned to mornings. I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. instead of 6:00. It took a couple of weeks to get used to it, but it worked out really well. No one else was up in my whole neighborhood, so it was like having the world to myself.
 
There would be possible drawbacks for music, though:
- if your studio isn't well-enough isolated, you might get some grumpy demands to, "Let me sleep!"
- you might end up doing everything with headphones and if that doesn't suit you...
 
But, I wanted to suggest it anyway. Hope you find something that works for you.

Hi jcamp,
 
 Don't give up! Sometimes I think that guys who at one time gigged on a regular basis seem to have a tougher time getting into recording  than those who didn't. When you gigged you probably knew the material and you probably repeated it at every gig, maybe not exactly the same sets but after awhile it was not an unexpected thing to go and play. The main thing being to get there and get set up, after that the rest was simple. It was up to the house sound person to make the mix sound ok. It was up to the bass player to play the bass etc. 
 
 Going into recording something that sounds like an entire band can be a challenge. Some wonderful musicians are not as good at pulling a computer system together,loading the software and learning all you need to know. Even if they can do it, many of them don't like to do it. They do it because it is a means to an end. The process of playing their instrument, recording it in a way that sounds good and getting a good result involve more than many want to deal with. Although some might not like to admit it, the technical process to get to a finished product stretches their patience and know how. I'll admit it stretches mine at times.Nothing like playing a live gig.
 
 
 I usually only do a project I can do  in a short amount of time. I might get an idea one night and just lay it down to a rhythm track. I do very little to no editing on my main parts. The main part and the drums are all I need to work the project up from there. IOW streamlining the whole process to the most simplistic  and fast way to do it, that way only a few hours here and there can get a lot accomplished.
 
 

A BIG thanks to all who talked me off the ledge. I'm thinking the best solution for me is to schedule time as I did gigs as some of you suggested. There was never an issue with that so it appears to be my fault for letting everything else take over. I know scheduling creative time goes against the grain of being creative, but it is a start, and I must start somewhere. Again, many thanks to all for your excellent advise.