: Practice for skill maintenance with busy life When I was younger I learned piano to grade 6 level, and I also picked up some bass guitar along the way. I enjoy playing music and composing from time to time. But life is busy

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I use to have this problem as well. I have a really busy schedule and practicing guitar had become really really hard. so what I did was,

I decided to spend at least 30 minutes of time every day.

So now the question would be when?

I pick up my guitar right after I wake up. Usually, I wake up around 6.30 AM and practice for 30 mins and then get ready for work.

And when I return back from work every day, I try to pick up my guitar back again if possible. Sometimes I skip at evening but that's fine.

I just make sure that I pick up my guitar at least once a day.

So that's my two cents for you.

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Build a library of sight reading material. You have to find the right level for yourself. Some examples that worked for me are:

Czerny, 100 Progressive Recreations
Schubert, Dances for Solo Piano (Dover edition)
Mozart, L. Nannerl Notebook; Notebook for Wolfgang
Mozart, WA. London Sketchbook
Bach, Anna Magdalena Notebook
Beyer, Elementary Instruction Book
A hymnal notated on the grand staff

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This will likely not apply to such instruments as guitars or the piano, but if possible carry instruments with you, so you can practice e.g. in a stairwell on the way in to work

Otherwise, carve out specific time say 30 minutes when you get home or some other predictable time for practice. Another option would be to reserve time (a commitment!) in a musical practice room, should such be available nearby. (This might also provide quiet time to work at other things or to let your mind wander as necessary...)

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Some ideas that I feel have helped me:

I squeeze in small amounts of practice during breaks or other down time during the day.
I rarely practice any one thing more than a few minutes. I find diminishing returns beyond that, and figure on any given task I'm probably better off with frequent short practice than less frequent long practice. I could be wrong.
I try to keep my practice area organized and ready to use: bass plugged in, with strap, on a stand, electronics all on one switch, any reading material on a stand, etc. With an hour long practice session it wouldn't matter so much, but I don't want to waste even one minute of a ten-minute session setting up.
I keep lists of lots of small (5-10 minute) tasks. I use the phone app AnkiDroid to track them. I like that it will remind me periodically (at wider intervals depending on how the previous practice went), but it's not really intended for this and there may be better ways.
I also have lists of practice tasks that don't require an instrument. This lets me take advantage of time in the shower, on the bus, etc. In my case that's been mainly ear training, repertoire memorization, and fretboard memorization (e.g., visualizing the locations of every ii-V-I in every key using some voicing). But with some creativity I bet it's possible to come up with some good reading exercises that don't require an instrument. I think when I was younger I overestimated the importance of physical relative to mental components of musical skills.
For occasional conference travel I have the same list of mental exercises or other hotel-room-friendly activities (composing would be good), but I also sometimes take a midi keyboard (tiny 25-key CME XKey) or small bass (a used Ashbory that fits under an airplane seat).
Sometimes the only dedicated time I have is at the end of the day when I'm tired and (I know that's not what this was about, but...) unmotivated. I try to have in mind one short (<10-minute) task that I am absolutely committed to doing every day even if I feel like crap. I tell myself that if that's all I feel like, that's OK. But usually once I get over the initial hump I'm good for longer.
I try to remember that this is in the end just a hobby for me that's supposed to be fun, and that if I need to take some time off that's not the end of the world.
That said, during my own PhD program I mostly dropped the ball on music and wish I could have found some regular low-key commitments to force me to keep it going. (Sorry, motivation again.)

Good luck! I'm no expert, just another amateur with too much else going on, so take this all with a grain of salt.