Time spent making things is never fully wasted. It shows up later in how you solve every other problem.

Making anything trains moves that do not stay in the studio: breaking a big thing into parts, judging when something is finished, sitting with a problem that has no obvious answer. Those transfer into arguments, jobs, repairs, plans. You rarely feel it happening, which is why time spent making can look like time off. It shows up later in how quickly you get unstuck.

Stop justifying the hours you spend making things by whether they lead anywhere. Keep one project going that is not for a grade or a client. The habit of building is doing more for you than the specific thing being built.