Hi, thanks for asking!
I think we have limited cognitive energy in our day, it's hard to do a regular work job, come home, and then do your side project. The trick I have found is to find companies who give time to complete your side projects during company time, a.k.a. hackdays/20% time.
It helps if the project is slightly related to company in some way, but a few places I was at, they said "as long as you're learning" that's all that matters!
Doing it during work hours helped a lot with drive and motivation.
The other suggestion is, solve real problems which you, or people you know, have. I wanted to make a "1 second every day video" thing, couldn't find exactly what I needed, so made my own!