I'm semi-retired, have a 16 year old son at home, hubby still works full time, and I help care for my dad, my 2 year old niece and my dad's house once a week. Or as needed for him medically or to keep him company. My home and family are priority; sewing is a mere hobby I fit in for sanity.
I'll address time mgmt. with specifically UFO's in mind (because I need to apply this advice to my own very regularly).
1. Take a sheet of notebook paper and make 3 columns.
First column: Description of UFO.
Second column: Priority-- give each UFO a letter of priority (A, B, or C only).
If it's only a WIP (as in a quilt you add to , over time, on purpose but not in a rush to finish) give it an asterisk. I find that WIPs don't bother me mentally, whereas UFO's do. And it's not just semantics for me. A WIP is my picnic quilt that I add 2.5 x various length to after every project. No deadline. No defined size. However, a donation quilt that languishes, or a quilt for myself that is started, is a UFO.
Third column--Date to Finish
2. Start with the one that has the nearest deadline, or the one that's closest to being finished.
3. If you gave a UFO a priority C, re-evaluate whether you really have intentions of finishing it. If the answer is yes, because you like it enough to keep going on it, fine. If you can honestly say you liked it then but not now, donate it. Lots of folks like to finish other people's starts. I'm not one of them, but just saying...
4. For the project you have chosen to finish, make a detailed list of steps you need to take to finish it, and give each a time estimate (Again, I love columns and charts. LOL) . Might be something like: 1. "Measure quilt for binding strips and calculate fabric needed (2 min.) 2. Cut out binding strips and sew them together. (20 min) 3. Iron binding strips and sew to front ( 1/2 hour) or whatever. I have to break my projects down into steps if I have a hard time focusing or getting motivated internally or am under a deadline.
I also find that having a set time to work uninterrupted (like Sundays after church and nap) is great for knocking out a chunk of a project.
5. Post this chart near your sewing machine for easy reference/ visual motivation.
Enjoy the reward of getting a UFO into the FO pile!
2.