I’m just gonna put this out for anyone who might be feeling similarly, with hopes I’m not the only one! I’m feeling stuck with my research a bit. I have ideas for sure, but no time. I have the motivation for grantwriting but struggling to find the right opportunity and deciding on the project. I feel like I have ideas for papers in general and constantly feel like well this should be a paper, why make it a grant though? Then I see other grants and think, wait why didn’t they just do a paper? Since I’m in a system where grants pay for salaries, I definitely need to be getting grants, but I just want to write paperzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I also feel like a lot of databases out there are in need to be used, analyzed, and torn to pieces to get more publications out based on how many people contributed to creating them, so why constantly propose to collect new data in way smaller cohorts that might fall short in answering questions (not generalizing of course, there’s always need for more granular data on certain things and small cohorts are absolutely worthwhile at times). Also, grantwriting takes a ton of time and very low chances of it being funded when publications are relatively faster and get the info out that can be used. I’m drowning in my despair these days, send halp…
Ooft, I also feel the pain of having lots of ideas for investigations and pieces of work, but not enough time to do them all! And I find it quite hard to get into the right mindset for writing while I’m conducting research, and vice versa, so I can’t always make use of a “spare” hour here and there. Not that I have an answer, but at least there are others feeling the same… 
thank you @vcatterson for sharing and joining me in the misery! 
my google knows me too well at this point and threw this article my way today:
Haha, it seems that this feeling is a universal experience!! 
I’m right there beside you. All I can say is: s-a-m-e-s